Nostalgia Nuggets: All About Thanksgiving

We find ourselves on the verge of another Thanksgiving holiday, and I for one am excited as usual. I’ve taken the week off of work so I have the time to take in all that the week has to offer, spend time with the family, and enjoy the traditions.

Everyone’s traditions vary, but mine include watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Dutch, and Son-In-Law in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. I also cook my traditional dishes for the family while football is on, and finish the night off by watching an old Starrcade or Survivor Series wrestling show from years past. I think this year it’s time to watch Starrcade ’86: Night of the Skywalkers again.

And traditions are what I want to focus on for this edition of Nostalgia Nuggets. Here’s a feast of links related to our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Enjoy.

Have you ever wondered why Thanksgiving is officially celebrated specifically on the fourth Thursday in November instead of the last Thursday of the month? Curious Junk explains why.

If you’re in the mood for learning about what other’s Thanksgiving days have been like through the years, read Eric’s essay in the latest edition of This Nostalgic Life newsletter. I have to admit I was a little jealous reading about how he got to run and play with so many cousins when he was younger and the dedication his family had to watching football.

I’m always curious about the various side dishes everyone else serves with their Thanksgiving dinners, and this list is an interesting look at the most popular side dishes from state to state.

If you’re one of the many who enjoy Green Bean Casserole, you might like to know that Dorcas Reilly’s original recipe is still considered the best. If you’re making it any other way, give the original a shot sometime.

For me, the stuffing (or dressing if you prefer) is my favorite part of the whole meal. My mom’s was always great, and I make a really good rendition of it. But a few years ago I tried Matt’s version that he posted, and it may be my favorite now. Check out Dino Drac’s Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe! and see what you think.

Turkey is the main event of the meal of course, but people have encountered many unusual problems when trying to prepare one for the big feast. Read these Tales From the Butterball Hotline so you can avoid some of the same pitfalls.

Camille Cypher fills in a blind spot in my culinary knowledge about the “what, how, and why” as she went In Search of the Turducken. Before this article, my only real exposure to it was hearing John Madden talk about it during football games on Thanksgiving day in the ’90s.

Before the meal, a whole lot of the country spends their morning watching the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you’re so inclined, head over to The Retro Network to read about the early days of the parade,, as well as some tales about when the parade doesn’t go as planned. And if the modern parade is too modern for your tastes, you can always go back in time and watch the 1985 presentation instead.

Watching football is another of the grand traditions for millions on Thanksgiving day, but you may wonder why it’s always the Lions and Cowboys that get the honor of entertaining the nation on the gridiron.

Those Thanksgiving day games featuring the Lions and Cowboys have been responsible for many memorable football moments, and in this video, NFL Films counts down the Top 10 Thanksgiving Moments of All Time. Personally, I think the Randy Moss game should be much higher on the list.

Pro Wrestling on Thanksgiving is just as big of a tradition as football for some, and for fans in the Mid-Atlantic like myself, Starrcade was as big of a reason to get excited about Thanksgiving as the food is. The gentlemen over at Mid-Atlantic Gateway have done a wonderful job chronicling the history of wrestling on Thanksgiving in the Mid-Atlantic area that dates back many years before the Starrcade name came along. Go check out their mini-site, Thanksgiving Night Tradition. It’s full of newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, results, and so much more.

Not to be outdone by Jim Crockett Promotions, the WWF launched their own Thanksgiving Wrestling tradition with the first Survivor Series in 1987. It was an event that changed wrestling history.

But not all Survivor Series events have been memorable for the right reasons. Some have been rather forgettable, like The Gobbledy Gooker – WWE’s Most Memorable Thanksgiving Fail.

And just for the fun of it, here’s a complete scan of the event program from the 1989 Survivor Series. It’s loaded with nostalgia.

And who can forget the day after Thanksgiving? It’s full of traditions of its own, so here’s A Brief History of Black Friday. And just for fun, here are the other six black days of the week. And let’s go into a little more detail on Black Saturday in particular. Fair warning, it’s another link about pro wrestling.

So there is a feast of Thanksgiving links for your enjoyment. But for me and a lot of others, it’s the anticipation leading up to the big day that’s special as well, and we start getting ourselves in the mood for it by watching Thanksgiving-themed movies. Probably the most well-regarded movie would be Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Here are 47 differences between the film and the script. And if you’re having to commute to work and back this week, give a listen to the fabulous Retroist Podcast: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Revisited.

For me, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is edged out in the favorite Thanksgiving Movie debate by the 1991 classic, Dutch. Familiarize yourself with it by listening to this old episode of the TRN Drive-In podcast all about Dutch. In this episode, our dearly departed friend Jason is joined by Chad from HorrorMovieBBQ to review the movie. In addition, Jeff at Yester Year Retro has done a great write-up about the movie as well that you should also check out.

Jeff has also covered 5 things he misses about Thanksgiving in the ’90s that will get you right in the feels.

Another underrated gem of a movie centered around Thanksgiving is Home For the Holidays. Stacy gives a great look at what makes the film so much fun.

And finally, whatever your favorite Thanksgiving movie is, if you can’t find it on any of your favorite streaming services, you should be able to rent it on Amazon for a cheap price and enjoy it anyway.

From me and mine to you and yours, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!