Retailers eat up ‘ Thanksgivukkah’

Rare holiday mash- up lights imaginations

Take some turkey, add some challah bread and mix in dozens of social media feeds — and a dash of holiday season anticipation. The result: a recipe for celebratory sales.

This year’s rare convergence of Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah has brought about a cornucopia of money- making opportunities.

The last time the overlap occurred was 1888. The next time will be more than 78,000 years from now, according to a calculation by physicist Jonathan Mizrahi. Thanksgiving Day falls on the first full day of the eight- day Hanukkah observance for Jews.

Internet sites and store shelves are filling up with items that celebrate the Nov. 28 mash- up of the Festival of Lights and the festival of eating — now called Thanksgivukkah.

There are foilwrapped chocolate coins that change the congratulatory “Mazel Tov!” to “Gobble Tov!”, Thankgiving- themed menorahs and aprons that show turkeys wearing yarmulkes on their heads.

This Sunday, online Judaica retail- er ModernTribe.com will open a popup store in Atlanta to sell such things as an $ 18 poster that takes a timely twist on the classic “American Gothic” painting. The famed artwork is reimagined as “American Gothikkah,” with the woman dressed as a Pilgrim and the man in Hasidic garb and holding, instead of a pitchfork, a menorah with nine lit candles.

Kosher- goods maker Manischewitz is capitalizing on the hybrid holiday. It has wacky e- cards and dual- celebration recipes at Thanksgivukah. com and on its social media sites. “There’s no place like home for the Challah days,” says one e- card.

One popular menorah comes from a small entrepreneurial group: New York City fourth- grader Asher Weintraub and his family. Asher came up with the idea for a turkey- shaped menorah called a “Menurkey.” His parents trademarked the name and raised more than $ 48,000 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to finance his business. They’ll sell 5,000 to 6,000, Asher’s father, Anthony, predicts.

ModernTribe. com is selling an “American Gothikkah” poster for $ 18.