Thanksgiving is a North-American national feast. It is on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the USA. This is the second biggest family holiday beside Christmas and also the beginning of the festive season in the USA. Its history is dating back to 1621 when the when the settlers who arrived the previous year thanked for the annual harvest after the harvest.
The Thanksgiving dinner has special dishes: whole roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans and pumpkin pie. Commonly the Friday is given as holiday, so the whole family can celebrate together at the long weekend. The nicely set table is very important this time. Commonly there is a separate dinner set for this occasion, mostly in warm colors. The soup bowl is frequently turkey-shaped, there is a pumpkin-shaped cup instead of plate for soup, seating card is placed on the table sticking in a pear/apple – only some examples.
The characteristic crops (for example: pumpkin, corn, nuts) and colors (orange, browns, mustard yellow, claret etc.) of autumn are used for the decoration. Not only the interiors but the outdoor parts connecting to the house are decorated with leafed-berried branches, chrysanthemums in pots and door wreaths. Big cockades, turkey figures and huge balls are made of paper in proper colors. The letter of Thanksgiving are cut from spare fabrics or cardboards and glued to a ribbon forming garlands and they are hung on for example the mantelpiece or the stair-rail. Sweets and sandwiches on the buffet table can be smart too: small turkeys are formed from biscuits or marzipan and the sandwiches have „contour feathers” made of olives on toothpicks.
Other decorations can be also used besides the colors of autumn, depending on the style of the interior, for example silver, gold, warm whites or cream. The lights of candles and tea lights give the nicely warm total effect.
If you like the mood of Thanksgiving and want your home enrobed in late autumn decoration, ask for help of an interior designer for this.