Why is Thanksgiving so late this year? You can blame politics.

If it feels like Thanksgiving is late this year, that’s because it is.

Maybe that means holding off on gift shopping since Black Friday also falls later.

Or maybe you’ll wait a little longer to put up your decorations for the next holiday if you follow the rule of waiting until after you’ve eaten the turkey and pumpkin pies.

In 2024, Thanksgiving falls on November 28, the latest date the holiday can fall. And as it turns out, there is a political explanation:

Why is Thanksgiving so late this year?

You can thank Congress for that.

According to the Center for Legislative Archives, on October 6, 1941, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring Thanksgiving the last Thursday in November. But the Senate amended the resolution to place the holiday on the fourth Thursday of the month to reflect years in which November has five Thursdays.

The House of Representatives approved the change, President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed, and the rest was history.

But that wasn’t always the case. Previously, presidents issued Thanksgiving proclamations, but this did not establish the holiday as a uniform day or month. Thanksgiving was not regularly celebrated on the last Thursday of November until President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation in 1863.

In 1939, Thanksgiving fell on the last day of November and Roosevelt feared that a shorter Christmas shopping season would harm the country’s economic recovery. He moved Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday in November, but some states rejected the change and celebrated it a week later for two years.

The confusion ended when Congress acted and chose the last Thursday in November.

More:For Indigenous peoples, Thanksgiving has complex meaning. Oneida chef shares his thoughts.

What does a later Thanksgiving mean for the holiday shopping season?

Since Thanksgiving is later, Black Friday is also later. But a lot has changed since 1939, including many consumers preferring to shop online for several days rather than walking to the mall at dawn.

Many big-name retailers are offering early deals to shoppers days or weeks before November 29th. Target, for example, has had deals every Sunday since November 3rd.

Black Friday has remained popular even during times of economic turmoil, with sales still reaching billions of dollars during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

More:Which malls are open on Thanksgiving and Black Friday in Milwaukee? Here is a list

More:What stores are open and closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday in Wisconsin?

More:Here are the Milwaukee area grocery stores open on Thanksgiving

What is the weather forecast for Thanksgiving in Wisconsin?

Even though Thanksgiving is late this year, it also seems like it took a while for winter weather to arrive in Wisconsin.

Temperatures will drop significantly through the weekend, with highs of around 33 degrees on Thanksgiving and 24 degrees on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

While previous forecasts this week showed a chance for very small amounts of snow for Thanksgiving travelers, the National Weather Service now says conditions will remain dry across most of Wisconsin.

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Why is Thanksgiving so late this year? You can blame politics.

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