Happy Thanksgiving to you and your friends and family. It’s a wonderful time of the year for reflection and giving thanks. Thank you to both our local and national communities for supporting our refurbished printer business. Printer Stop is fortunate to live in a historically rich part of the United States, which inspired us to share this blog today regarding the historical origin of Thanksgiving Day.

We aren’t talking about the days of the Pilgrims, but rather the day that Thanksgiving was deemed a national holiday. It was the 3rd of October in 1863. President Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day, and it is to be recognized as a federal holiday. While he was not the first president to celebrate a collective day of giving thanks, he was the one who brought the country together on a singular day. Prior to this, President George Washington celebrated a day of giving thanks in 1789 in honor of the great and beautiful country that is The United States.

Following President Washington’s lead, many people and communities offered a day of thanks by coming together with friends, family, and community members to recollect and give back. It wasn’t until 1863 that the country celebrated as a whole. Inspired by an elderly magazine editor, Lincoln brought unity to the country in a time of civil distress. The people sought a day of full community and thanksgiving, celebrated nationally as a complete union. Lincoln immediately said to “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise... to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.”

So, again, thank you to our community, friends, and family. May this day bring you peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.