Holidays

By Kriti Grover, 7th grade and Harshini Sankarapandian, 6th grade

After Halloween starts the holiday season. There are many holidays in November and December. Here's some myths about some holidays!

Thanksgiving

Turkey is a common food to eat on Thanksgiving now, but it wasn't always like that. In fact, at the first Thanksgiving, there was no turkey! We don't know for sure if there was turkey, cranberries, or mashed potatoes, but what we do know is that there was deer!

Christmas

One of the most popular Christmas songs is "Jingle Bells" by James Pierpont. However, did you know that it was originally written for Thanksgiving? Nowhere in the song does it mention Christmas. Its original title was "One Horse Open Sleigh", but it referred to the annual sleigh races that happened during Thanksgiving in the composer's hometown.

Hanukkah

When you think of gelt, what do you think of? Probably chocolate coins. This is only because in the 1920s, American chocolate makers decided to make edible gelt. Before that, gelt used to be cash. Adults used to distribute cash and coins to kids.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a less-known holiday, but people still celebrate it. Many people think that if you celebrate Christmas, you can't celebrate Kwanzaa. This is not true! Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday, which means it's not connected to any religion or faith. If you want to celebrate Kwanzaa, you just have to give importance to qualities such as unity and faith.

As you can see after Halloween, there are many holidays to celebrate. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are all cheerful holidays you can spend with your family.