Every year many of us look forward to the holiday season, it all starts kicking off with Thanksgiving Day. Some look forward to the shopping, others like the decorating and the holiday foods and among all that busyness we remember to give thanks that we can do all that with those we care about most. As I thought about all we do I began to think of all the traditions we have such as, eating turkey in Thanksgiving, putting up Christmas trees and lights and watching a ball drop on new year’s eve. I started looking into more traditions and I learned about an interesting Thanksgiving tradition that I found in The New York Public Library website, Ragamuffin Day which took place on Thanksgiving Day.
Apparently this was a practice where children dressed up in over sized rags and went around their neighborhoods asking, “Anything for Thanksgiving?” In spite of the attempt to get rid of this practice the ragamuffin tradition persisted in the outer boroughs including our very own borough, The Bronx. I was not able to find more information on the ragamuffin tradition here in The Bronx, although I did read a blog comment mentioning a parade taking place around 138th Street. Those of you history buffs who know more about this tradition please feel free to add your comments or email me so I can update this posting. Also, if you know of any other holiday traditions that are practiced within our borough please do share.
I would like to take the time now to thank all of you who look to Bronx-PR for positive information and events about our borough. It has been about a year that Bronx-PR has been around highlighting the greatness of The Bronx, and I look forward to the years to come. Best wishes and a wonderful Thanksgiving from my family to yours!
Source: Thanksgiving Ragamuffin Parade by Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, November 23, 2010. Online. Internet. http://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/11/23/thanksgiving-ragamuffin-parade