MovieChat Forums > Holiday Inn (1942) Discussion > Just wondering about that turkey...

Just wondering about that turkey...

posted 9 years ago by corkycorr
3 replies | jump to latest

Towards the end of the movie as we head into the Thanksgiving scene, an animated calendar is shown with a turkey that keeps moving from one week to the next and back again. I do recall that Thanksgiving did not always have a fixed day like it does now. But was there something peculiar about that year that would explain the use of this funny animation a bit better? Had the planned date to celebrate Thanksgiving been changed mid year or was it just a remark on how confusing it was to keep changing the date from year to year? Just curious...thanks!

[–] the_match_maker 9 years ago

Pretty much, it was an 'inside joke' that audiences back then would have gotten. If I remember correctly, at the time, the President and Congress were having a 'back and forth' battle over when Thanksgiving should be. FDR moved it one year, and then Congress moved it back again.

[–] corkycorr 9 years ago

Ok, thanks for your response, Match maker! It always made me wonder, even as a child.

[–] liscarkat (16496) 6 years ago

In 1939, retailers lobbied President Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving ahead one week, from Thursday, November 30 to Thursday, November 23, so that there would be more Christmas shopping days after the holiday. Twenty-three States went along with the change, and 23 states celebrated Thanksgiving on the traditional final Thursday (November 30). Both Texas and Colorado celebrated two Thanksgivings, November 23 and 30. In 1940, FDR again proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the second-to-last Thursday of November instead of the last Thursday. On the day after Christmas, 1941, Congress ruled that Thanksgiving would, from that day on, be celebrated on the traditional day--the final Thursday of November.