My family’s holiday is “November 19th day”. We are flung around the United States (sister in Los Angeles, parents in Indianapolis, my husband and I in Wilmington), so mainly our holidays usually consist of when we can all be together. This could be January 5th, August 9th or a recognized government holiday. So each year we celebrate, without fail, November 19th day, the origins of which are about as clear as the origins of Festivus before one-time Seinfeld screenwriter Dan O’Keefe published his definitive The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday. My family likes to celebrate November 19th day with gifts. It is a shameless gift-giving holiday. We don’t even pretend it has higher significance. In that way, November 19th day differs from Festivus, which is supposed to be anti-commercial, though hundreds of websites have sprung up hawking Festivus poles and the like.

Tense Family Gatherings: Origin of Festivus and November 19th Day

Apparently, the “original Festivus” can be held at any time during the year, but is best suited for the general holiday season between Halloween and New Year’s when tensions are running high and the “Airing of the Grievances” is beneficial for everyone. During the real Festivus, you would speak into the tape recorder (the holiday was invented in 1966) to record your “issues” for posterity. I’m not sure we would want to do that in my family. We might not talk to each other ever again!

November 19th day has origins surprisingly similar to Festivus. An investigative phone call to my Dad revealed that November 19th day actually started about ten years ago when my sister was a junior in high school, challenging the conventions of traditional holidays. She was challenging the conventions of almost everything at that time, but the one thing to endure was November 19th day. A conversation between my sister and my dad went something like this “Why is one holiday on a calendar so important? If somebody just decides that this day will be Thanksgiving Day, why do we all have to get together and eat turkey? Anyone can make up a holiday.” So my Dad says “Ok, we’ll make up a holiday. Today’s November 19th and this will be our holiday.” And so it has been. . . .

Gifts for the Non-Holiday Holiday

Because there are no official November 19th day cards, my sister receives some type of gift card or something in a card that says “Thanksgiving across the miles” with Thanksgiving crossed out and November 19th day written in. I started thinking about November 19th day and Queensboro, because last year, before I worked here, my sister called me and said she wanted me to order printed t-shirts with our family Acronym J^2ERK (Joy, Joe, Emily, Robert, Katie-my family calls me Katie), but I didn’t have a good place to get them without buying about 50. Now, I have a place to order for a small group of five. Queensboro’s four piece flexible minimum is perfect for us.

Is This a Shameless Sales Pitch?

Yes, actually it is. To celebrate the anti-consumer holiday, or any old day, I advocate gifts. This year, useful gifts because nobody has any money for anything frivolous. What is my family getting for November 19th day? Hmm.. . . could it be something from Queensboro’s online catalog? I think so!