Avast! What be this Evacuation Day? A jolly feast lost to time, ‘fore the turkey took the stage, arrr!
2024-11-28
Arrr, afore the feast of turkey took root in late November, the scallywags of America be celebratin' "Evacuation Day" – markin' the day them pesky Redcoats hightailed it outta New York in 1783! Aye, we raised a mug and did a jig, chasin’ ‘em from our shores!
Ahoy mateys! Gather 'round as I spin ye a yarn of yore, when Lincoln, that fine lad in the White House, declared a day of thanks, unknowin’ he’d be sendin’ Evacuation Day to Davy Jones’ locker! Aye, it was November 1863 when he uttered thanks fer the bountiful harvest, and by the 1940s, Congress made the fourth Thursday o’ November a day of feasting and family. But let’s not forget the grand day when the red-coated rascals made their hasty retreat from our shores on November 25, 1783, like scallywags runnin’ from a fierce storm!Our fair city o' New York, held tight by the British, celebrated with much fanfare once they weighed anchor. Brave Sgt. John van Arsdale, a true swashbuckler, climbed a greased flagpole to hoist our beloved Stars and Stripes! Aye, then came George Washington and Gov. Clinton, marchin’ down Broadway like they owned the place, celebratin’ with a jolly good feast at Fraunces’ Tavern.
But alas! As the years rolled on and alliances formed, Evacuation Day turned into a mere whisper among the winds of time, makin’ way fer Thanksgiving that we know today. So raise a tankard, me hearties! To the lost day of revelry, and may our thanks be as bountiful as the sea! Arrr!