What gives with Thanksgiving?/Lockhart's age

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> wrote:
> Y'know, I've never quite figured out this whole Thanksgiving 
> celebration.  I know it's something to do with pilgrims, and that 
> it's in October-November, and often involves a turkey, but as for 
> what it's actually celebrating I have no clue.  No doubt I could 
> look it up, but I'm too lazy: can someone enlighten me?

People have been celebrating the harvest ever since the first humans 
stopped being purely nomadic herders and hunter/gatherers and settled 
down to agriculture, probably in Catal Huyuk (I think that's in 
Turkey, but I don't remember now; I have a recent copy of Archeology 
Magazine around here somewhere...).  In the northern hemisphere, the 
harvest is celebrated around October/November, depending on how far 
north we're talking and what crops are being grown.  Folks have been 
having thankgiving-type harvest feasts in gratitude to their gods for 
a very long time. 

The Puritans thought it was a miracle that they made it through 1620-
1621 (they were probably right), and were especially grateful for 
this, so this has been the emphasis of the U.S. version for some 
time. (It seems to add some legitimacy to the event, to some people.) 
Personally, I grew very tired of the whole pilgrims-Plymouth-Rock 
thing being trotted out every November when I was a kid.  It seems to 
me that for students in the lower grades, the teaching curriculum 
just goes from holiday to holiday: Columbus Day, Halloween, 
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents' Day, 
Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter...I don't think kids are 
learning proper history (as if Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day 
are history) by rehashing the same things year in and year out.  We 
used to cover Armistice Day/Veteran's Day too, on November 11, but I 
don't see them doing that in the schools any more, although at least 
King is finally recognized.  (When do we get Susan B. Anthony Day?  
Or Gandhi Day?)  But I digress...

North American Thanksgiving celebrations as we know them aren't all 
that old (I think it was Lincoln who fixed the U.S. version at the 
last Thursday in November), but they are just continuations of this 
ancient practice, with overtones of being thankful for things other 
than the harvest now that we don't live in a primarily agrarian 
society.  Read "The Golden Bough," which has numerous descriptions of 
these types of celebrations around the world.  Aren't there any 
harvest celebrations at the appropriate time in Australia/New Zealand?

> Also, how old do people think Lockhart is meant to be?  I note that 
> as a Lockhart fan I seem to be in a minority - sure, he's over the 
> top, but I find him very amusing.  I also note that I am coming 
> under fire for my tastes in somewhat silly, over-the-top 
> characters...

Oh, Lockhart's fun!  He's such a hoot.  I got the impression that he 
was in his mid-to-late-forties but trying to look like he was in his 
early-to-mid-thirties (I also wouldn't be surprised if he lied about 
his age).  When Harry has a detention with him and must help him 
answer his fan mail, the photos of Lockhart in his office are wearing 
hairnets and going through various other "beauty treatments" that 
wouldn't be necessary for a younger (or less vain) man.
 
--Barb