Beech Tree News Network

Have you ever wondered why most of us choose to feast/gorge on turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving? Turkey might not have been on the menu at what is considered the first Thanksgiving on 1621 by the pilgrims at Plymouth.  There were definitely wild turkeys(the bird, not the drink) in the Plymouth area, as colonist William Bradford noted in his journal.  However, the best existing account of the Pilgrims’ harvest feast comes from colonist Edward Winslow, author of Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.  Winslow’s first-hand account of the first Thanksgiving made no mention of turkey He mentioned “wild fowl”, which could have easily meant duck or geese.

Did you know that Thanksgiving, while popular, wasn’t actually a national holiday? Presidents would declare a celebration in certain parts of the country, but it was by no means a nationwide event. 

Alexander Hamilton once remarked that, "No citizen of the U.S. shall refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day."

When Bradford's journals were reprinted in 1856 after being lost for a century, they found a receptive audience with advocates who wanted Thanksgiving turned into a national holiday. Since Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621 and since turkey is a uniquely North American (and scrumptious) bird, it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

Moreover, there were pragmatic reasons for eating turkey rather than, say, chicken at a feast like Thanksgiving. The birds are large enough that they can feed a table full of hungry family members, and unlike chickens or cows, they didn't serve much utilitarian purpose like laying eggs or making milk. Unlike pork, turkey wasn't so common that it seemed like an unsuitable choice for a special occasion, either. An interesting 2007 piece in Slate discussed these reasons for turkey's prominence, but also made another intriguing point. The publication of A Christmas Carol in1843 may have helped force along the turkey's cause as a holiday delicacy when Scrooge magnanimously sends the Cratchit family a Christmas turkey.

Sugar was a rare luxury at the first Thanksgiving.  That meant no cranberry sauce.  ‘it wasn’t until 1863 that visitors started commenting on sweet sauce made of boiled cranberry that accompanied meat.  Neither sweet potatoes or white potatoes were available to the colonists in 1621, so the Pilgrims didn’t feast on everyone’s favorite tubers.

Winslow mentions in his writings that the governor sent out a party of four men to do some fouling for the feast, but the Pilgrims and Wampanoag also enjoyed five deer as part of their feasting. The meat supposedly arrived at the celebration as a gift from the Wampanoag king Massasoit. On top of the venison, other meats probably included lots of fish and shellfish, which were staples of the Pilgrims' diets. So if you want to wolf down a lobster or some oysters in lieu of turkey on Thursday, nobody can fault you for being historically inaccurate. 

Pumpkin pie might be a flagship dessert for some these days.  However, it did not make an appearance at the first Thanksgiving.  The Pilgrims probably lacked the butter and flour needed to make a pie crust, and it's not clear that they even had an oven in which they could have baked a pumpkin pie. That doesn't mean pumpkins weren't available for the meal, though; they were probably served after being baked in the coals of a fire or stewed. Pumpkin pie became a popular dish on 17th-century American tables, though, and it might have shown up for Thanksgiving as early as the 1623 celebration of the holiday. (www.mentalfloss.com)

As for me and my favorites, I stick to the staples: turkey, Mom’s dressing(best ever), corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, five cup salad and a pie of some kind(chocolate or pecan, usually).  Whatever you have, I hope you have it with family and ones you love.  If the past year(December 2017-November-December 2018) has taught me anything, it’s to never take anything for granted, most importantly, family. 

Happy Thanksgiving!