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All About Thanksgiving |
Thanksgiving Proclamation |
The State of New Hampshire, in Committee of Safety, Exeter, November 1, 1782Ordered, that the following proclamation for a general Thanksgiving on the 28th day of November be received from the honorable Continental Congress, and forthwith printed and sent to the several worshipping Assemblies in this State, to whom it is recommended religiously to observe said day, and to abstain from all servile labour thereon. M. WEARE, President By the United States in Congress assembled.
PROCLAMATION.
IT being the indispensable duty of all Nations, not only to offer up their supplications to ALMIGHTY GOD, the giver of all good, for his gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner to give him praise for his goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of his providence in their behalf:
Therefore the United States in Congress assembled, taking into their consideration the many instances of divine goodness to these States, in the course of the important conflict in which they have been so long engaged; the present happy and promising state of public affairs; and the events of the war, in the course of the year now drawing to a close; particularly the harmony of the public Councils, which is so necessary to the success of the public cause; the perfect union and good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between them and their Allies, notwithstanding the artful and unwearied attempts of the common enemy to divide them; the success of the arms of the United States, and those of their Allies, and the acknowledgment of their independence by another European power, whose friendship and commerce must be of great and lasting advantage to these States:---
Do hereby recommend to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe, and request the several States to interpose their authority in appointing and commanding the observation of THURSDAY the twenty-eight day of NOVEMBER next, as a day of solemn THANKSGIVING to GOD for all his mercies: and they do further recommend to all ranks, to testify to their gratitude to GOD for his goodness, by a cheerful obedience of his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness.
Done in Congress, at Philadelphia, the eleventh day of October, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and of our Sovereignty and Independence, the seventh.
JOHN HANSON, President.
Charles Thomson, Secretary.
PRINTED AT EXETER. The Thanksgiving Proclamation and the Proclamation Image are Courtesy of The Library of Congress.
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The First Thanksgiving
In 1621, the Plymouth
colonists and Wampanoag
Indians shared an autumn
harvest feast which is
acknowledged today as one of
the first Thanksgiving
celebrations in the
colonies. This harvest meal
has become a symbol of
cooperation and interaction
between English colonists
and Native Americans.
Although this feast is
considered by many to the
very first Thanksgiving
celebration, it was actually
in keeping with a long
tradition of celebrating the
harvest and giving thanks
for a successful bounty of
crops. Native American
groups throughout the
Americas, including the
Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and
many others organized
harvest festivals,
ceremonial dances, and other
celebrations of thanks for
centuries before the arrival
of Europeans in North
America.
Historians have also
recorded other ceremonies of
thanks among European
settlers in North America,
including British colonists
in Berkeley Plantation,
Virginia. At this site near
the Charles River in
December of 1619, a group of
British settlers led by
Captain John Woodlief knelt
in prayer and pledged
"Thanksgiving" to God for
their healthy arrival after
a long voyage across the
Atlantic. This event has
been acknowledged by some
scholars and writers as the
official first Thanksgiving
among European settlers on
record. Whether at Plymouth,
Berkeley Plantation, or
throughout the Americas,
celebrations of thanks have
held great meaning and
importance over time. The
legacy of thanks, and
particularly of the feast,
have survived the centuries
as people throughout the
United States gather family,
friends, and enormous
amounts of food for their
yearly Thanksgiving meal.
What Was Actually on the
Menu?
What foods topped the table
at the first harvest feast?
Historians aren't completely
certain about the full
bounty, but it's safe to say
the pilgrims weren't
gobbling up pumpkin pie or
playing with their mashed
potatoes. Following is a
list of the foods that were
available to the colonists
at the time of the 1621
feast. However, the only two
items that historians know
for sure were on the menu
are venison and wild fowl,
which are mentioned in
primary sources. The most
detailed description of the
"First Thanksgiving" comes
from Edward Winslow from
A Journal of the Pilgrims at
Plymouth, in 1621:
"Our harvest being gotten
in, our governor sent four
men on fowling, that so we
might after a special manner
rejoice together after we
had gathered the fruit of
our labors. They four in one
day killed as much fowl as,
with a little help beside,
served the company almost a
week. At which time, among
other recreations, we
exercised our arms, many of
the Indians coming amongst
us, and among the rest their
greatest king Massasoit,
with some ninety men, whom
for three days we
entertained and feasted, and
they went out and killed
five deer, which they
brought to the plantation
and bestowed upon our
governor, and upon the
captain, and others. And
although it be not always so
plentiful as it was at this
time with us, yet by the
goodness of God, we are so
far from want that we often
wish you partakers of our
plenty."
Did you know
that lobster, seal and swans
were on the Pilgrims' menu?
Seventeenth Century Table
Manners:
The pilgrims didn't use
forks; they ate with spoons,
knives, and their fingers.
They wiped their hands on
large cloth napkins which
they also used to pick up
hot morsels of food. Salt
would have been on the table
at the harvest feast, and
people would have sprinkled
it on their food. Pepper,
however, was something that
they used for cooking but
wasn't available on the
table.
In the seventeenth century,
a person's social standing
determined what he or she
ate. The best food was
placed next to the most
important people. People
didn't tend to sample
everything that was on the
table (as we do today), they
just ate what was closest to
them.
Serving in the seventeenth
century was very different
from serving today. People
weren't served their meals
individually. Foods were
served onto the table and
then people took the food
from the table and ate it.
All the servers had to do
was move the food from the
place where it was cooked
onto the table.
Pilgrims didn't eat in
courses as we do today. All
of the different types of
foods were placed on the
table at the same time and
people ate in any order they
chose. Sometimes there were
two courses, but each of
them would contain both meat
dishes, puddings, and
sweets.
More Meat, Less Vegetables
Our modern Thanksgiving
repast is centered around
the turkey, but that
certainly wasn't the case at
the pilgrims's feasts. Their
meals included many
different meats. Vegetable
dishes, one of the main
components of our modern
celebration, didn't really
play a large part in the
feast mentality of the
seventeenth century.
Depending on the time of
year, many vegetables
weren't available to the
colonists.
The pilgrims probably didn't
have pies or anything sweet
at the harvest feast. They
had brought some sugar with
them on the Mayflower but by
the time of the feast, the
supply had dwindled. Also,
they didn't have an oven so
pies and cakes and breads
were not possible at all.
The food that was eaten at
the harvest feast would have
seemed fatty by 1990's
standards, but it was
probably more healthy for
the pilgrims than it would
be for people today. The
colonists were more active
and needed more protein.
Heart attack was the least
of their worries. They were
more concerned about the
plague and pox.
Surprisingly Spicy Cooking
People tend to think of
English food at bland, but,
in fact, the pilgrims used
many spices, including
cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg,
pepper, and dried fruit, in
sauces for meats. In the
seventeenth century, cooks
did not use proportions or
talk about teaspoons and
tablespoons. Instead, they
just improvised. The best
way to cook things in the
seventeenth century was to
roast them. Among the
pilgrims, someone was
assigned to sit for hours at
a time and turn the spit to
make sure the meat was
evenly done.
Since the pilgrims and
Wampanoag Indians had no
refrigeration in the
seventeenth century, they
tended to dry a lot of their
foods to preserve them. They
dried Indian corn, hams,
fish, and herbs.
Dinner for Breakfast:
Pilgrim Meals:
The biggest meal of the day
for the colonists was eaten
at noon and it was called
noonmeat or dinner. The
housewives would spend part
of their morning cooking
that meal. Supper was a
smaller meal that they had
at the end of the day.
Breakfast tended to be
leftovers from the previous
day's noonmeat.
In a pilgrim household, the
adults sat down to eat and
the children and servants
waited on them. The foods
that the colonists and
Wampanoag Indians ate were
very similar, but their
eating patterns were
different. While the
colonists had set eating
patterns—breakfast, dinner,
and supper—the Wampanoags
tended to eat when they were
hungry and to have pots
cooking throughout the day.
Source: Kathleen Curtin,
Food Historian at Plymouth
Plantation
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When is Thanksgiving |
Each year in America Thanksgiving
falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Most years this is the
last Thursday in November, but in some years there are five
Thursdays in November, and then Thanksgiving falls on the second
to last Thursday. |
Here are the dates of
Thanksgiving Thursday from 2009 through 2013.
|
Thanksgiving 2009: Thursday, November 26
Thanksgiving 2010: Thursday, November 25
Thanksgiving 2011: Thursday, November 24
Thanksgiving 2012: Thursday, November 22
Thanksgiving 2013: Thursday, November 28
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The Pilgrims' Menu
Foods
That May Have Been on the Menu |
Seafood: |
Cod, Eel,
Clams, Lobster |
Wild Fowl: |
Wild Turkey, Goose,
Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles |
Meat: |
Venison,
Seal |
Grain: |
Wheat Flour,
Indian Corn |
Vegetables: |
Pumpkin, Peas, Beans,
Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots |
Fruit: |
Plums,
Grapes |
Nuts: |
Walnuts,
Chestnuts, Acorns |
Herbs and
Seasonings: |
Olive Oil, Liverwort,
Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips |
|
What Was Not on the Menu |
The
following foods, all considered staples of the modern
Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast
table: |
Ham: |
There is no
evidence that
the colonists
had butchered a
pig by this
time, though
they had brought
pigs with them
from England. |
Sweet
Potatoes/Potatoes: |
These were
not common. |
Corn on
the Cob: |
Corn was kept
dried out at
this time of
year. |
Cranberry Sauce: |
The colonists
had cranberries
but no sugar at
this time. |
Pumpkin Pie: |
It's not a
recipe that
exists at this
point, though
the pilgrims had
recipes for
stewed pumpkin. |
Chicken/Eggs |
We know that
the colonists
brought hens
with them from
England, but
it's unknown how
many they had
left at this
point or whether
the hens were
still laying.
Milk:
|
Milk: |
No cows had
been aboard the
Mayflower,
though it's
possible that
the colonists
used goat milk
to make cheese. |
Source: Kathleen Curtin,
Food Historian at Plymouth
Plantation.
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Thanksgiving Fun Facts |
Over the Years
Though many competing claims
exist, the most familiar
story of the first
Thanksgiving took place in
Plymouth Colony, in
present-day Massachusetts,
in 1621. More than 200 years
later, President Abraham
Lincoln declared the final
Thursday in November as a
national day of
thanksgiving. Congress
finally made Thanksgiving
Day an official national
holiday in 1941.
Sarah Josepha Hale, the
enormously influential
magazine editor and author
who waged a tireless
campaign to make
Thanksgiving a national
holiday in the mid-19th
century, was also the author
of the classic nursery rhyme
"Mary Had a Little Lamb."
In 2001, the U.S. Postal
Service issued a
commemorative Thanksgiving
stamp. Designed by the
artist Margaret Cusack in a
style resembling traditional
folk-art needlework, it
depicted a cornucopia
overflowing with fruits and
vegetables, under the phrase
"We Give Thanks."
On the Roads
Despite record-high gas
prices (more than $3.00 per
gallon) in 2007, the
American Automobile
Association (AAA) estimated
that 38.7 million Americans
would travel 50 miles or
more from home for the
Thanksgiving holiday, a
slight increase (1.5
percent) over the previous
year.
Of those Americans traveling
for Thanksgiving in 2007,
approximately 80 percent
(31.2 million) were expected
to go by motor vehicle, 12.1
percent (4.7 million) by
airplane and the rest (2.8
million) by train, bus or
other mode of
transportation.
On the Table
According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, Minnesota is the top
turkey-producing state in
America, with a planned
production total of 49
million in 2008. Just six
states, Minnesota, North
Carolina, Arkansas,
Virginia, Missouri, and
Indiana will probably
produce two-thirds of the
estimated 271 million birds
that will be raised in the
U.S. this year.
The National Turkey
Federation estimated that 46
million turkeys, one fifth
of the annual total of 235
million consumed in the
United States in 2007, were
eaten at Thanksgiving.
In a survey conducted by the
National Turkey Federation,
nearly 88 percent of
Americans said they eat
turkey at Thanksgiving. The
average weight of turkeys
purchased for Thanksgiving
is 15 pounds, which means
some 690 million pounds of
turkey were consumed in the
U.S. during Thanksgiving in
2007.
The cranberry is one of only
three fruits. The others are
the blueberry and the
Concord grape—that are
entirely native to North
American soil, according to
the Cape Cod Cranberry
Growers' Association.
According to the Guinness
Book of World Records, the
largest pumpkin pie ever
baked weighed 2,020 pounds
and measured just over 12
feet long. It was baked on
October 8, 2005 by the New
Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers
in Ohio, and included 900
pounds of pumpkin, 62
gallons of evaporated milk,
155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds
of sugar, 3.5 pounds of
salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon,
2 pounds of pumpkin spice
and 250 pounds of crust.
Around the Country
Three towns in the U.S. take
their name from the
traditional Thanksgiving
bird, including Turkey,
Texas (pop. 465); Turkey
Creek, Louisiana (pop. 363);
and Turkey, North Carolina
(pop. 270).
Originally known as Macy's
Christmas Parade to signify
the launch of the Christmas
shopping season. The first
Macy's Thanksgiving Day
Parade took place in New
York City in 1924. It was
launched by Macy's employees
and featured animals from
the Central Park Zoo. Today,
some 3 million people attend
the annual parade and
another 44 million watch it
on television.
Tony Sarg, a children's book
illustrator and puppeteer,
designed the first giant hot
air balloons for the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade in
1927. He later created the
elaborate mechanically
animated window displays
that grace the façade of the
New York store from
Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Snoopy has appeared as a
giant balloon in the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade more
times than any other
character in history. As the
Flying Ace, Snoopy made his
sixth appearance in the 2006
parade.
The first time the Detroit
Lions played football on
Thanksgiving Day was in
1934, when they hosted the
Chicago Bears at the
University of Detroit
stadium, in front of 26,000
fans. The NBC radio network
broadcast the game on 94
stations across the country
the first national
Thanksgiving football
broadcast. Since that time,
the Lions have played a game
every Thanksgiving (except
between 1939 and 1944); in
1956, fans watched the game
on television for the first
time.
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Mayflower Myths |
"The
reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving
is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn't originate in any
one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving,
which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest
celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas
like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered
together and transformed into something different from the
original parts."– James W. Baker - Historian |
Myth:
The first Thanksgiving was
in 1621 and the pilgrims
celebrated it every year
thereafter.
Fact:
The first feast wasn't
repeated, so it wasn't the
beginning of a tradition. In
fact, the colonists didn't
even call the day
Thanksgiving. To them, a
thanksgiving was a religious
holiday in which they would
go to church and thank God
for a specific event, such
as the winning of a battle.
On such a religious day, the
types of recreational
activities that the pilgrims
and Wampanoag Indians
participated in during the
1621 harvest feast--dancing,
singing secular songs,
playing games--wouldn't have
been allowed. The feast was
a secular celebration, so it
never would have been
considered a thanksgiving in
the pilgrims minds.
Myth:
The original Thanksgiving
feast took place on the
fourth Thursday of November.
Fact:
The original feast in 1621
occurred sometime between
September 21 and November
11. Unlike our modern
holiday, it was three days
long. The event was based on
English harvest festivals,
which traditionally occurred
around the 29th of
September. After that first
harvest was completed by the
Plymouth colonists, Gov.
William Bradford proclaimed
a day of thanksgiving and
prayer, shared by all the
colonists and neighboring
Indians. In 1623 a day of
fasting and prayer during a
period of drought was
changed to one of
thanksgiving because the
rain came during the
prayers. Gradually the
custom prevailed in New
England of annually
celebrating thanksgiving
after the harvest.
During the
American Revolution a yearly
day of national thanksgiving
was suggested by the
Continental Congress. In
1817 New York State adopted
Thanksgiving Day as an
annual custom, and by the
middle of the 19th century
many other states had done
the same. In 1863 President
Abraham Lincoln appointed a
day of thanksgiving as the
last Thursday in November,
which he may have correlated
it with the November 21,
1621, anchoring of the
Mayflower at Cape Cod.
Since then, each president
has issued a
Thanksgiving Day
proclamation.
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt set the date for
Thanksgiving to the fourth
Thursday of November in 1939
(approved by Congress in
1941)
Myth:
The pilgrims wore only black
and white clothing. They had
buckles on their hats,
garments, and shoes.
Fact:
Buckles did not come into
fashion until later in the
seventeenth century and
black and white were
commonly worn only on Sunday
and formal occasions. Women
typically dressed in red,
earthy green, brown, blue,
violet, and gray, while men
wore clothing in white,
beige, black, earthy green,
and brown.
Myth:
The pilgrims brought
furniture with them on the
Mayflower.
Fact:
The only furniture that the
pilgrims brought on the
Mayflower was chests and
boxes. They constructed
wooden furniture once they
settled in Plymouth.
Myth:
The Mayflower was headed for
Virginia, but due to a
navigational mistake it
ended up in Cape Cod
Massachusetts.
Fact:
The Pilgrims were in fact
planning to settle in
Virginia, but not the
modern-day state of
Virginia. They were part of
the Virginia Company, which
had the rights to most of
the eastern seaboard of the
U.S. The pilgrims had
intended to go to the Hudson
River region in New York
State, which would have been
considered "Northern
Virginia," but they landed
in Cape Cod instead.
Treacherous seas prevented
them from venturing further
south.
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How Much Do
You Know About Thanksgiving? |
1. Fact or Fiction:
Thanksgiving is held on the final Thursday of November each
year. |
Fiction.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday
in November as a national day of thanksgiving. However, in 1939,
after a request from the National Retail Dry Goods Association,
President Franklin Roosevelt decreed that the holiday should
always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month (and
never the occasional fifth, as occurred in 1939) in order to
extend the holiday shopping season by a week. The decision
sparked great controversy, and was still unresolved two years
later, when the House of Representatives passed a resolution
making the last Thursday in November a legal national holiday.
The Senate amended the resolution, setting the date as the
fourth Thursday, and the House eventually agreed. |
2. Fact or Fiction:
One of America's Founding Fathers thought the turkey should be
the national bird of the United States. |
Fact.
In a letter to his daughter sent in 1784, Benjamin Franklin
suggested that the wild turkey would be a more appropriate
national symbol for the newly independent United States than the
bald eagle (which had earlier been chosen by the Continental
Congress). He argued that the turkey was "a much more
respectable Bird," "a true original Native of America," and
"though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage." |
3. Fact or Fiction:
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to
proclaim a national day of thanksgiving. |
Fiction.
George Washington, John Adams and James Madison all issued
proclamations urging Americans to observe days of thanksgiving,
both for general good fortune and for particularly momentous
events (the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, in Washington's
case; the end of the War of 1812, in Madison's). |
4. Fact or Fiction:
Macy's was the first American department store to sponsor a
parade in celebration of Thanksgiving. |
Fiction.
The Philadelphia department store Gimbel's had sponsored a
parade in 1920, but the Macy's parade, launched four years
later, soon became a Thanksgiving tradition and the standard
kickoff to the holiday shopping season. The parade became ever
more well-known after it featured prominently in the hit film
Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which shows actual footage of the
1946 parade. In addition to its famous giant balloons and
floats, the Macy's parade features live music and other
performances, including by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes
and cast members of well-known Broadway shows. |
5. Fact or Fiction:
Turkeys are slow-moving birds that lack the ability to fly. |
Fiction (kind of).
Domesticated turkeys (the type eaten on Thanksgiving) cannot
fly, and their pace is limited to a slow walk. Female domestic
turkeys, which are typically smaller and lighter than males, can
move somewhat faster. Wild turkeys, on the other hand, are much
smaller and more agile. They can reach speeds of up to 20-25
miles per hour on the ground and fly for short distances at
speeds approaching 55 miles per hour. They also have better
eyesight and hearing than their domestic counterparts. |
6. Fact or Fiction:
Native Americans used cranberries, now a staple of many
Thanksgiving dinners, for cooking as well as medicinal purposes. |
Fact.
According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, one of
the country's oldest farmers' organizations, Native Americans
used cranberries in a variety of foods, including "pemmican" (a
nourishing, high-protein combination of crushed berries, dried
deer meat and melted fat). They also used it as a medicine to
treat arrow punctures and other wounds and as a dye for fabric.
The Pilgrims adopted these uses for the fruit and gave it a
name—"craneberry"—because its drooping pink blossoms in the
spring reminded them of a crane. |
7. Fact or Fiction:
The movement of the turkey inspired a ballroom dance. |
Fact.
The turkey trot, modeled on that bird's characteristic short,
jerky steps, was one of a number of popular dance styles that
emerged during the late 19th and early 20th century in the
United States. The two-step, a simple dance that required little
to no instruction, was quickly followed by such dances as the
one-step, the turkey trot, the fox trot and the bunny hug, which
could all be performed to the ragtime and jazz music popular at
the time. The popularity of such dances spread like wildfire,
helped along by the teachings and performances of exhibition
dancers like the famous husband-and-wife team Vernon and Irene
Castle. |
8. Fact or Fiction:
On Thanksgiving Day in 2007, two turkeys earned a trip to Disney
World. |
Fact.
On November 20, 2007, President George W. Bush granted a
"pardon" to two turkeys, named May and Flower, at the 60th
annual National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation, held in the
Rose Garden at the White House. The two turkeys were flown to
Orlando, Florida, where they served as honorary grand marshals
for the Disney World Thanksgiving Parade. The current tradition
of presidential turkey pardons began in 1947, under Harry
Truman, but the practice is said to have informally begun with
Abraham Lincoln, who granted a pardon to his son Tad's pet
turkey. |
9. Fact or Fiction:
Turkey contains an amino acid that makes you sleepy. |
Fact.
Turkey does contain the essential amino acid tryptophan, which
is a natural sedative, but so do a lot of other foods, including
chicken, beef, pork, beans and cheese. Though many people
believe turkey's tryptophan content is what makes many people
feel sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal, it is more likely the
combination of fats and carbohydrates most people eat with the
turkey, as well as the large amount of food (not to mention
alcohol, in some cases) consumed, that makes most people feel
like following their meal up with a nap. |
10. Fact or Fiction:
The tradition of playing or watching football on Thanksgiving
started with the first National Football League game on the
holiday in 1934. |
Fiction.
The American tradition of college football on Thanksgiving is
pretty much as old as the sport itself. The newly formed
American Intercollegiate Football Association held its first
championship game on Thanksgiving Day in 1876. At the time, the
sport resembled something between rugby and what we think of as
football today. By the 1890s, more than 5,000 club, college and
high school football games were taking place on Thanksgiving,
and championship match-ups between schools like Princeton and
Yale could draw up to 40,000 fans. The NFL took up the tradition
in 1934, when the Detroit Lions (recently arrived in the city
and renamed) played the Chicago Bears at the University of
Detroit stadium in front of 26,000 fans. Since then, the Lions
game on Thanksgiving has become an annual event, taking place
every year except during the World War II years (1939–1944).
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