The notion behind the Thanksgiving we celebrate today may be the same as the first Thanksgiving, but the way we celebrate it is starkly different than the original holiday. In 1621 when the Native Americans and English settlers first gathered together to commemorate a harvest festival, their food, traditions, and activities did not hardly resemble anything you would recognize today. Most of the Thanksgiving food your family whips up every year was not even available at that time in history!
The Reason
The first Thanksgiving took place around present-day southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. The Wampanoag tribe who had been living there for over 12,000 years made a formal agreement with the newly settled Puritans that they would join together to protect one another from other tribes. One Wampanoag leader in particular, Squanto, helped the settlers grow crops so they were able to feed themselves.
Later that year, the Native Americans learned of the Englishmen preparing for their harvest festival, so they joined in to hunt deer and harvest crops. They all shared a feast together, which consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and various roasted meats. After finishing their meal, they played ball games, sang songs, and danced.
Our Version
As you can see, the first Thanksgiving was not celebrated with turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. So when did those become a part of the tradition? The modern Thanksgiving holiday we know and love began to come together in 1846 after Sara Josepha Hale, a magazine editor pressed for there to be an annual Thanksgiving holiday. A couple decades later in 1863, none other than President Abraham Lincoln declared a national celebration of Thanksgiving.
Our Menu
Turkey became the Thanksgiving meat of choice for economical reasons. They were affordable, large, and more easily available than other types of meat, such as beef or venison. Turkey had already been associated with Christmas dinner, but by the time Lincoln announced the national holiday, turkey was already abundantly popular at Thanksgiving. Another source that contributed to the popularity of turkey was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which featured some recognizable classics: turkey, gravy, stuffing, and pudding.
The pumpkin pie did not join the Thanksgiving menu until the early nineteenth century, and it was definitely not the same dessert we prepare today. Instead of pureeing the pumpkin filling and baking it in a golden crust, the English used a different cooking technique: stuffing it with apples, and spices, and sugar before baking it whole. Still sounds delicious!
