There are several holidays celebrated in North America and the USA in particular which often baffle Europeans as these US holidays have the strangest names such as Groundhog Day, Black Friday and Turkey Day or Thanksgiving. Although most Europeans have a vague idea of what Thanksgiving celebrates, Groundhog Day and Black Friday are relatively unknown. Here are brief explanations to these unique American customs.

Groundhog DayA groundhog is a small animal from the rodent family also called a woodchuck. This strange sounding unique North American holiday is celebrated on February the 2nd every year and has been since 1887. This North American holiday is based on European folklore which says that if on that day a groundhog pokes his head out of his burrow and then retreats back inside then winter will continue for six more weeks; but if he comes all the way out of his burrow, winter is coming to an end. Groundhog Day is celebrated most fervently in Pennsylvania where the European custom first took root in the New Country amongst communities of German immigrants. In Alaska this North American holiday is called Marmot Day as there are few, if any groundhogs in Alaska. Although Groundhog Day is not an official National Holiday and people don't get the day off work, there is a Face Book group campaigning for it to be given the statues of a national holiday.!

Turkey Day

Turkey Day is what is today called Thanksgiving and is celebrated both in the USA on the 4th Thursday of November and in Canada on the 2nd Monday in October. Thanksgiving Day was originally a harvest festival where people gave thanks to G-d for all that they have both from the land, materially and personally. Thanksgiving is thought to have been originally celebrated by the pilgrims who arrived in 1620 on the Mayflower in Plymouth, Massachusetts, America. They celebrated thanksgiving in thanks to G-d for seeing them through the ordeals of their journey, early settlement and for surviving the first harsh winter. Similarly in Canada Thanksgiving commemorates the explorer Martin Frobisher's survival and return to Newfoundland from a long expletory journey in 1578. Today Thanksgiving is celebrated with parades (the most famous being the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York) and revelry, families gather for large family Thanksgiving meals. There are traditional food associated with Thanksgiving such as roast turkey, yam pie, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. American families take this opportunity to give thanks for all of their blessings. Because of the turkey's central role in the Thanksgiving meal the holiday was at one time referred to as Turkey Day. Kids in school also create all kinds of Thanksgiving arts and crafts projects for the holiday.

Black FridayAlthough most Americans either work half day or do not work on Black Friday it is not an official national American holiday some employees take one days leave on Black Friday so that they can take advantage of the Black Friday sales. Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving and is the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. On Black Friday Christmas sales and discounts start in American and Canadian stores, the Black Friday sales are meant to encourage people to do their Christmas shopping on the weekend following Thanksgiving. Black Friday is sometimes referred to as Green Friday to avoid any negative connotations with the term Black Friday which has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters in the past. Traditionally the best Christmas shopping deals can be had In North America on Black Friday.

It is always interesting to learn about another country's unique celebrations and these three American "days" certainly fit the bill with unusual names and an interesting history behind them.