Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday. It’s ironic that it’s a uniquely American holiday given that the corporate man hasn’t commercialized it nearly as much as the major holidays that precede and succeed it. Thanksgiving is a time for feast and family, and they were pretty great as a kid growing up in the 1980s. Here are five reasons 1980s Thanksgivings were awesome.

People Cooked (and Didn’t Care About Calories)

I’m not saying that people don’t cook now. In fact, modern people probably cook more than their 1980s counterparts. What I’m saying is that people in the 80s who didn’t normally cook much, like my mother, prepared some great dishes. I’d be pretty excited to forego the frozen Kid Cuisine for some real, homecooked food. Although the 80s saw an increase in health-conscious eating, there still generally wasn’t as much concern for counting calories, fat or salt content like today. Thus, the food was extra scrumptious. My mother, grandma, aunts and their friends would also assemble some uniquely 80s hors d'oeuvres, which were my favorite part of the feast. Then there was the “kid’s table”. The kid’s table was great to eat at because I could goof off with my cousins at the dinner table and the adults didn’t care because they were at their own table having a break from us. However, the kid’s table did became unappealing and awkward at that pubescent stage in between childhood and adulthood. A rite of passage I suppose.

Getting Together with Family and Friends

Thanksgiving was the holiday were extended family and friends that I might not see much of the rest of the year would gather. Often times, it became obvious why we avoided some. However, there were other cool cousins and troublemaking uncles that were a delight to see again. While we did have electronic devices to occupy us such as the NES, or as you’ll see on the rest of this list, televisions, people weren’t glued to cell phone the way they are now. I don’t have big family Thanksgivings anymore because I’m quite far away from even the nearest relative, but I can only imagine everyone at a modern Thanksgiving table like zombie cyborgs, scrolling and swiping in silence. There was still a lot of conversations and card games at Thanksgiving in the 80s. There was also cool Uncle Mike who ingratiated himself to the kids by telling us borderline inappropriate stories and jokes after a few too many Coors Banquets. Uncle Mike made Thanksgiving fun.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Our first of three Thanksgiving TV traditions starts with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which started in the 1920s and is still put on today. However, I feel it was a bigger tradition to watch on Thanksgiving Day on television than it is today, especially in the 1980s. In fact, the 80s rang in the parade with an 80-foot superman in 1980, which still holds the record for the tallest balloon to this day. I remember it hosted by the likes of Bryant Gumble or Willard Scott, who seemed just as excited to check out the year’s new balloons and floats as I was. Some of the most memorable floats were Garfield, Betty Boop, Spider-Man and Bugs Bunny. Snoopy seemed to have a balloon almost every year. The floats would stop in front of the hosts’ booth for a while where a celebrity or musical act would perform with float characters. Some memorable acts for me were Vanessa Williams, Dionne Warwick, Dom DeLuise, New Edition, Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog and, and of course, Ronald McDonald who seemed to make an appearance every year. Again, this parade is still a thing today, but with all of the modern distractions, it just doesn’t seem like it’s as big as it was in the 80s.

1980s Football

After the Macy’s parade, my grandpa and uncles would settle in from of the television with their Coors Banquets and a plate of hors d'oeuvres and watch NFL football. I always felt really manly and cool watching football with “the guys” on Thanksgiving. When they took a swig of their Coors, I’d take a swig of my Pepsi. I’d cheer along whichever team they were rooting for and complain just as wholeheartedly at the referees for bad calls. American football was as big then as it is now, but thinking back, I can remember some differences. There was something a bit more primitive about 1980s football. Players’ training and movements seem quite a bit more refined these days as opposed to the blunt force style of the past. I also remember the teams used to huddle a lot more (which might be one reason the games seemed longer back then). The refs were also a bit looser with their roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct calls. Moreover, fans really know what’s going on in the games these days. The line of scrimmage and first down lines are marked on the TV. Replays have in-video graphics and light pens with real-time analysis. Heck, even regularly knowing the game clock time or what down it was would have been a real treat in the 80s. I remember my uncles often asking each other what down it was or how many yards to go.

Thanksgiving Television Specials

The 80s were prime time for Thanksgiving television specials. There were stand-alone classics as well as themed episodes for existing shows. After football, “the guys” would rejoin the adult group and we kids, full of turkey dinner but still having room for pie, would watch the Thanksgiving specials. Some of the most notable one in my memory are Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special, Welcome to Pooh Corner: Pooh Corner Thanksgiving, Garfield’s Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (which had been airing every year since 1973 so the 80s can adopt it). Being a televison’o’holic, I also vividly remember some TV episodes with Thanksgiving themes including Spenser: For Hire, Alf, and Who’s the Boss.

You might be thinking now: “Jamie, what’s the difference between your beloved vacuum tube and our modern smartphones? It seems you were locked in on a screen just the same!” Let me tell you the differences:

1. TV programs were not on demand. If you wanted to watch something, you had to be there at a certain time. In that way, it was a real treat.

2. The television was still a communal device. So, at that certain time, we’d often gather around the tv together with snacks and make an experience of it.

Think of an 80s television set as a fire that a clan could gather around. Smartphones are more like little individual torches that just keep people apart.

Am I wrong here? Are your Thanksgiving Days still great and cozy like they were in he 80s? Let me know in the comments. With that, I leave you the best holiday wishes and this quote: