holidays — Bunk History

Workmen on the faces of Mount Rushmore, Pennington County, South Dakota, late 1930s. Roosevelt has scaffolding over his face.

President’s Day Is a Weird Holiday. It Has Been Since the Beginning.

How should a republic honor its leaders?

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via The Bulwark on February 19, 2023

Guy Lombardo with a conductor's baton and a New Year's party hat.

Do Americans Sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Because of a Frat Party?

Or maybe it was the cigars that gave us this New Year's Eve staple.

by April White via Atlas Obscura on December 29, 2022

A circa 1830 illustration of a slave auction in America. Rischgitz/Hulton Archive—Getty Images.

'The Slaves Dread New Year's Day the Worst': The Grim History of January 1

New Year's Day used to be widely known as "Hiring Day" or "Heartbreak Day"

by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on December 27, 2019

A painting of George Washington.

What Is Presidents’ Day Actually About?

For most of American history, Washington's Birthday was a really big deal, but that’s changed a lot since the middle of the twentieth century.

by Livia Gershon, Barry Schwartz via JSTOR Daily on February 3, 2018

Buying Your Dad a Gift Is Why Father's Day Exists

Buying a necktie for your dad is a stereotypical way to celebrate Father's Day, but it's in keeping with the holiday's history.

by Erin Blakemore via TIME on June 15, 2017

Christmas in the Space Age: Looking Back at the Wild Designs of Mid-20th-Century Holidays

There are two critical periods for Christmas. One is the Victorian era. The other is the 1960s.

by Sarah Archer, Todd Vanderwerff via Vox on November 25, 2016

Dole pineapple cookbook featuring a pineapple upside down cake and a can of Dole sliced pineapple.

American Food Traditions That Started as Marketing Ploys

Your grandma didn't invent that recipe.

by Diana Hubbell via Atlas Obscura on September 30, 2024

Juneteenth celebrations.

Before Juneteenth

A firsthand account of freedom’s earliest celebrations.

by Susannah J. Ural, Ann Marsh Daly via The Atlantic on June 17, 2024

Book cover of "Living the Dream" by Daniel T. Fleming.

Fighting to Desegregate the American Calendar

As a versatile but complex hero, King led a life open to interpretation by politicians and activists of all types who fiercely debated his legacy.

by Daniel T. Fleming, Brock Schnoke via UNC Press Blog on January 15, 2024

Joel Roberts Poinsett (left). The poinsettia, which takes its name from Poinsett (right).

Poinsettia Day, the Monroe Doctrine, and U.S.-Mexican Relations

The troubled history of the famous poinsettia plant.

by Lindsay Schakenbach Regele via Origins on December 9, 2023

Collage of Juneteenth-related images.

The Story We’ve Been Told About Juneteenth Is Wrong

The real history of Juneteenth is much messier—and more inspiring.

by Peniel E. Joseph via Texas Monthly on May 18, 2023

Charlie Brown and his friends at a store with a Christmas sale.

When Christmas Started Creeping

Christmas starts earlier every year — or does it?

by Bill Black via Contingent on November 8, 2022

A Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.

The Secret History of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Why do we eat pumpkin pie spice in the fall?

by Sarah Wassberg Johnson via The Food Historian on October 2, 2022

Rally honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Central Park, New York City, 1968

A Case of the Mondays

The beginning of the fight for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

by Daniel T. Fleming via Lapham’s Quarterly on June 29, 2022

“Mrs. Lavin coming out of shul in fur,” 1952.

At the Lower East Side Passover Parade, Immigrants Created New American Identities

Some accounts suggest that the Passover Parade was even more glamorous than its famous counterpart, the Easter Parade.

by Yael Buechler via Forward on April 10, 2022

Billboard claiming MLK was a Republican

The Uses and Abuses of the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Politics have diluted King's dream.

by Andre E. Key via Religion Dispatches on January 13, 2022

This 1925 painting depicts an idealized version of an early Thanksgiving celebration in Plymouth.

How to Tell the Thanksgiving Story on Its 400th Anniversary

Scholars are unraveling the myths surrounding the 1621 feast, which found the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag cementing a newly established alliance.

by David Kindy via Smithsonian on November 23, 2021

Condoleezza Rice

Why Aren’t Conservative Women Recognized During Women’s History Month?

The left regularly dismisses such women as less worthy of recognition.

by Kay C. James via The Washington Times on March 1, 2021

Crowd at 2015 Purim Ball in New York City

How New York's 19th-Century Jews Turned Purim Into an American Party

In the 19th century, Purim became an occasion to hold parties to raise money for charities. These parties helped American Jews gain a standing among the elite.

by Zev Eleff via The Conversation on February 23, 2021

Toy santa mug shots

The War on Christmas

A brief history of the Yuletide in America.

by Charles Ludington via The American Scholar on December 28, 2020

Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

A Long-Forgotten Holiday Animates Black Lives Matter

The movement for racial equality echoes the vision of the “August First Day” holiday.

by Tom Zoellner via Made By History on July 31, 2020

The Living History of Juneteenth, Our Next National Holiday

A celebration of emancipation in Texas is taking hold in the minds of Americans everywhere.

by Brandon R. Byrd via GQ on June 19, 2020

Two people in a horse-drawn carriage

Early Photographs of Juneteenth Celebrations

Historical photographs of early Juneteenth celebrations throughout its home state of Texas and across the country.

via The Public Domain Review on June 19, 2020

Juneteenth And National New Beginnings

The holiday is a reminder of the Civil War's larger meaning, the unfulfilled promise of Reconstruction, and the reinforcement of democratic values.

by Tera W. Hunter via Essence on June 19, 2020

Thanksgiving Has Been Reinvented Many Times

From colonial times to the nineteenth century, Thanksgiving was very different from the holiday we know now.

by Elizabeth Pleck, Matthew Wills via JSTOR Daily on November 1, 2019

The Fourth of July Has Always Been Political

The question is which vision of America it’s being used to advance.

by David Waldstreicher via The Atlantic on July 4, 2019

The Sounds of Independence

How was the Fourth of July celebrated during the Revolutionary War?

by Emily Sneff via Uncommon Sense on July 2, 2019

What Could Go Wrong for Trump on July 4th? In 1970, Protests and Tear Gas Marred the Day.

"Honor America Day" was designed to showcase support for President Nixon at a time of bitter division.

by Ronald G. Shafer via Retropolis on July 2, 2019

Baby, Christmas Songs Have Always Been Controversial

Long before “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” holiday songs played a part in the War on Christmas.

by Neil J. Young via The Atlantic on December 24, 2018

A painting entitled "The First Thanksgiving, 1621" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (ca. 1932).

A Brief History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday about food – but it is more specifically a holiday about food’s absence.

by Rachel B. Herrmann via History Extra on November 21, 2018

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