The holiday most associated with Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) is National Candy Corn Day (Dickinson invented candy corn, and he set the date for the holiday as October 30th). However, Thanksgiving is also closely connected to America's greatest poet:
* He wrote more poems about Thanksgiving than any other poet.
* He convinced Abraham Lincoln to establish the fourth Thursday in November as the official day for the holiday.
* He was the first person to draw an outline of his hand as a turkey.
* He invented cornbread stuffing (as well as corn chowder, corn muffins, corn nog, corn brittle, corn fritters, corn dogs, candy corn, creamed corn, cornbread, corn pudding, corn dip, corn nuggets, corn jelly, corn relish, corn salsa, and corn whiskey).
* He established the "Shopping Season" (formerly called the "Holiday Season"), and advocated for stores to open on Thursday -- one day ahead of Black Friday -- thereby changing "Thanksgiving" to "Thanksgetting" (a term Dickinson coined).
Dickinson also established the haiku as the official art form of the holiday. Some of Dickinson's Thanksgiving haikus are below (shown in the poet's handwriting). To read more of Dickinson's holiday haikus, click HERE, and scroll down to the entry dated November 28th.
* He wrote more poems about Thanksgiving than any other poet.
* He convinced Abraham Lincoln to establish the fourth Thursday in November as the official day for the holiday.
* He was the first person to draw an outline of his hand as a turkey.
* He invented cornbread stuffing (as well as corn chowder, corn muffins, corn nog, corn brittle, corn fritters, corn dogs, candy corn, creamed corn, cornbread, corn pudding, corn dip, corn nuggets, corn jelly, corn relish, corn salsa, and corn whiskey).
* He established the "Shopping Season" (formerly called the "Holiday Season"), and advocated for stores to open on Thursday -- one day ahead of Black Friday -- thereby changing "Thanksgiving" to "Thanksgetting" (a term Dickinson coined).
Dickinson also established the haiku as the official art form of the holiday. Some of Dickinson's Thanksgiving haikus are below (shown in the poet's handwriting). To read more of Dickinson's holiday haikus, click HERE, and scroll down to the entry dated November 28th.
 | Fill up with turkey. Then nap the rest of the day. Tryptophantastic! The turkey is stuffed. Then gobble it up and get Stuffed – like the turkey! Gobble the turkey. Then head to the Sales to shop. Happy ThanksGetting! |
| There’s a perfect word For a Thanksgiving Haiku: Cornucopia. Version 1: Nothing can ruin A great Thanksgiving buffet Except Tofurkey! Version 2: Nothing can ruin A great Thanksgiving buffet Except the In-Laws! |  |
To read more of Dickinson's holiday haikus, click HERE,
and scroll down to the entry dated November 28th.
and scroll down to the entry dated November 28th.
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