Instead, he might rent a helicopter and get to work capturing a river of red-and-white lights as pre-holiday traffic snakes along the 405 Freeway. But Thanksgiving gridlock as a meme appears to have started in 2016, when a video of the 405 from KABC-TV (Channel 7) went viral. Consider these headlines:This Los Angeles Thanksgiving traffic jam is the most epic Mannequin Challenge ever (Mashable)Hellish Los Angeles Thanksgiving Traffic Jam Will Make You Glad You Live Elsewhere (Drive)Los Angeles Freeway Paralyzed by Thanksgiving Traffic (Breitbart)L.A.'s Thanksgiving traffic nightmare is here (L.A. Times)Epic 405 Traffic Jam Terrorizes Los Angeles Drivers (Wrap)These Completely Insane Photos Of LA Traffic Will Make You Super Excited To Travel For Thanksgiving (BuzzFeed)Rush hour traffic for Thanksgiving in LA looks like a living nightmare (Metro UK)Thanksgiving holiday traffic at Los Angeles International Airport in the 1970s. (Los Angeles Times)When the 101 Freeway opened in 1940, it was the focus of Thanksgiving gridlock photos. But by the 1970s, that photogenic interest shifted to the 405 Freeway, at least in the pages of The Times.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 27, 2019 20:37 UTC