HAPPY RAGAMUFFIN DAY!

HAPPY

RAGAMUFFIN DAY!

As you sit down this Thanksgiving Thursday to purposefully assault your deep-fried turkey and garlic mashed taters with puddles of gravy, be sure to bewilder your turkey-mates by heartily wishing them a?“Happy Ragamuffin Day.”

What’s that, you say??As the story goes, starting back in the mid 1800s, beloved Thanksgiving had everything to do with weirdness. The common practice of the day was for big gangs of city children (as well as any rowdies who loved a good time) to dress up in freaky costumes and go brownstone to brownstone begging for pennies, apples or candy. Horns, rattles and noisemakers echoed in the city streets like New Year’s Eve and Gothamites would throw buckets of confetti and flour off the tops of buildings in frenzied celebration.?Bedlam!?Tricksters wore masks that included animals, celebrities of the day and local politicians. Two of the most popular costumes for boys involved either cross-dressing in a sister’s dress or going as a “ragamuffin”-- a sort of Chaplinesque outfit parodying the poorest people of the day. So many youngsters in New York City at the time dressed in this disturbingly destitute manner that Thanksgiving Day took on a nickname: “Ragamuffin Day.”

Ragamuffin Day persisted in New York City (and elsewhere) until the 1950s, but was eventually overpowered by a newer tradition popularized by the 1947 movie,?Miracle on 34th Street. This new symbol of Thanksgiving also showcased folks in fantastic masks and costumes and, in addition, featured house-sized cartoon balloons. You might have heard of it, it was called?Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.?So what’s a better compliment to one’s stuffing and cranberry sauce: masquerading rudely for treats, or listening to Al Roker opine on Broadway dance numbers? You decide.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!