Why Thanksgiving Wasn’t Always on the Fourth Thursday of November
Americans now expect Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. But in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to November 23, and states split over whether to follow his lead or keep the traditional date.
The dispute touched holiday plans, business interests, and the president’s role in setting a national observance. It lasted only a few years, but it led Congress to set Thanksgiving’s date by law. The story explains why the holiday falls on the fourth Thursday today, rather than always on November’s last Thursday.
The November calendar made Thanksgiving’s date contentious
Thanksgiving traditionally fell on the last Thursday
Presidents once chose a Thanksgiving date each year through proclamations. Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation named the last Thursday in November, and later presidents kept that custom. The date was widely followed, but no federal law had yet fixed it.
The National Archives’ account of Congress establishing Thanksgiving notes that the last-Thursday custom became regular after Lincoln’s proclamation. Since November’s weekdays shift from year to year, the holiday’s date changed, even though it stayed on Thursday.
Five Thursdays pushed the holiday to November 30
November 1939 had five Thursdays: November 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. Following the usual rule would put Thanksgiving on November 30, leaving a shorter stretch before Christmas than in years when the holiday came earlier.
The late date revived concern among retailers, who worried that shoppers would have fewer days to buy gifts before Christmas. That was a key reason for moving the holiday, though the debate also involved tradition, school calendars, football games, and other plans.
Thanksgiving wasn’t always on the fourth Thursday of November
Roosevelt chose November 23 in 1939
Roosevelt announced his decision at a press conference on August 14, 1939. He moved Thanksgiving one week earlier, to November 23, the next-to-last Thursday of the month. The change was meant in part to lengthen the Christmas shopping season.
The president’s choice did not settle the date for everyone. Governors and state governments had a say in how their states observed the holiday, and many people saw the change as a break with a familiar tradition.
The earlier date continued in 1940 and 1941
Roosevelt kept the earlier schedule for the next two years. Thanksgiving fell on November 21 in 1940 and November 20 in 1941. Both dates were the third Thursday of November.
The National Archives’ history of Roosevelt’s Thanksgiving experiment traces how the shift drew criticism as well as support. Some retailers welcomed more time before Christmas, while others questioned whether the change helped sales. The disagreement soon became a public debate over who should set the date.
The change challenged a national custom
Critics objected to changing a holiday tied to a long-standing presidential custom. Others worried about practical effects, such as school breaks, travel plans, and football games already set for the traditional date. The change also raised questions about presidential influence, since no federal law then set Thanksgiving’s date.
Rather than describe the controversy through invented quotes, readers can consult Roosevelt’s proclamations and contemporary reporting for the language used at the time. The records show that the debate was about more than shopping: it also involved public expectations and local schedules.
States split over Thanksgiving’s date
Some states followed Roosevelt’s earlier date
Governors and state governments chose whether to observe the earlier date or keep the last-Thursday custom. In 1939, 32 states issued proclamations for November 23, following Roosevelt’s choice. People in those states celebrated Thanksgiving a week before the traditional date.
Other states kept the traditional date
Sixteen states rejected the change and kept Thanksgiving on November 30 in 1939. Families, schools, and businesses across the country therefore did not all observe the holiday on the same day.
The split showed the limits of a presidential proclamation when no federal law set one uniform date. It also made planning harder for people whose work, travel, or family plans crossed state lines.
“Franksgiving” became a nickname for the early holiday
The earlier observance became known as “Franksgiving,” a blend of Franklin and Thanksgiving. It was a popular nickname, not an official name for the holiday. The Roosevelt House history of Thanksgiving notes that the change drew the humorous label.
The two-date dispute gave the nickname staying power. It captured the personal link between the president and the new date, as well as the public’s divided response.
Congress made the fourth Thursday Thanksgiving’s permanent date
Congress chose the fourth Thursday
In 1941, Congress took up the problem of setting a uniform date. The House first passed a joint resolution naming the last Thursday in November. The Senate changed it to the fourth Thursday, which would avoid confusion in years with five Thursdays.
The U.S. House history of the Thanksgiving Holiday Bill explains that the Senate amendment helped make the holiday date predictable. The House agreed to the change, replacing a shifting custom with a clear rule.
Roosevelt signed the measure on December 26, 1941
Roosevelt signed the joint resolution on December 26, 1941. That was the date the measure became law, not the first Thanksgiving observed under the new schedule. The fourth-Thursday rule took effect in 1942.
The first Thanksgiving under the rule fell on November 26, 1942. Since the fourth Thursday can land anywhere from November 22 to November 28, the holiday still moves across the calendar, but its weekday rule stays fixed.
The 1939 Thanksgiving date change still explains today’s holiday
The fourth Thursday is not always the last
When November has four Thursdays, the fourth Thursday is also the last one. When the month has five Thursdays, the fourth Thursday comes a week before the last. That difference is why Congress chose “fourth Thursday” rather than “last Thursday.”
The rule gives Thanksgiving a steady place in the week without tying it to one calendar date. Depending on the year, the holiday can fall on different days of the month.
The dispute involved more than holiday plans
The 1939 change brought commerce, presidential influence, state choices, and public expectations into the same debate. Retailers wanted a longer period for Christmas shopping, while critics worried about changing a custom and disrupting plans already in place. The split among states made the practical effects hard to ignore.
For exact dates and legislative details, useful records include Roosevelt’s proclamations, the 1941 joint resolution, and the National Archives’ and Library of Congress’s historical collections. The National Archives’ Thanksgiving records explain how Congress settled the question.
A calendar dispute set today’s Thanksgiving date
Before 1939, Americans commonly observed Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. Roosevelt moved the 1939 holiday to November 23, partly to give retailers more time before Christmas, and states did not all follow the new date. The earlier observance became known as “Franksgiving.”
Congress ended the split by setting Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November in 1941. The rule took effect the following year, and it still determines the holiday’s date. Next time you check the November calendar, look for the fourth Thursday, not simply the month’s last one.
References:
Thanksgiving: Another FDR experiment. (2021, November 19). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/fdr-thanksgiving-experiment
The Roosevelts and Thanksgiving - Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. (2024). Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. https://www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/exhibits/the-roosevelts-and-thanksgiving/
Rivers, T. S. (2014). North Carolina Criminal Law and Procedure-Pamphlet 76. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Congress establishes thanksgiving. (2016, August 15). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving