Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is... a day designated to control the population of birds that gobble. No? Then Thanksgiving must be a day to honor monster sized, cartoonish inflatables and those who play with pigskins. No? Well then it has to be a day to remember the founders of buckle fashion, all those who bravely wore gigantic square buckles on their hats and shoes. NO?! Then gosh darn it, why DO we have Thanksgiving?  It all started long, long ago with a Mayflower and a rock...

If you were a Pilgrim at Plymouth Rock in 1621 you would not have called the fall feast which occurred that year (the one considered the inspiration for the modern holiday) Thanksgiving. The group of colonists who landed in the Mayflower off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in December of 1620 were composed of two peoples. The first, members of the English Separatist Church (Puritans), became disillusioned with the religious practices and way of life in Europe and came to the New World in search of better living. The second group of individuals in the new colony were the crew of the Mayflower, along with other non-Puritans commissioned by the English financiers of the trip sent along to supervise the endeavor. These two groups (Separatists and crew/non-Puritans) lived together in Plymouth and are what we collectively refer to as "Pilgrims". The Separists did hold "Thanksgiving" days, just not quite like the holiday of today. To the Separatists, Thanksgiving was a religious holiday to be spent at church thanking God. Such a day was usually held to give thanks for the occurrence of a special event, like winning a battle. The nature of the fall feast held in 1621, with its light hearted atmosphere and festive game playing, would not have been considered by the Separatists' to be an appropriate Thanksgiving service.

But the Pilgrims did have a lot to be thankful for in the Fall of 1621. Arriving at the end of the year in 1920, the Pilgrims were not prepared to survive the harsh Massachusetts winter. Half the colony died in those first months due to disease and lack of food; they had arrived too late in the year to plant and grow a supply of sustenance. In the spring, Wampanoag Indians befriended the settlers and showed them how to plant native crops, hunt, fish, and how to store food away for the winter. One of the crops the Indians helped the Pilgrims plant was maize (corn), a grain with which the English were not previously familiar. It is thought that the Indians also showed the colonists how to make popcorn and possibly brought some to the feast now referred to as the "First Thanksgiving".

The first Thanksgiving was a feast held in the fall to celebrate the success of the harvest that year. During the three day long event, about 90 Wampanoag Indians showed up at the settlement and joined the Pilgrims in eating and game playing festivities. The menu items at the feast probably weren't what it is considered traditional Thanksgiving food today. They did not have ovens or great supplies of sugar so pumpkin pie was out of question. There is a record of the feast including venison and wild fowl, but it is not known for sure whether turkey specifically topped the table. Different meats, rather than a large variety of vegetables, most likely made up the bulk of the meal offerings.

So the original feast food wasn't quite what you'd planned on having for Turkey Day this year... How about the fashion? How close did the Pilgrims clothing match that of the buckle-ladden digs on your ceramic salt and pepper shaker Pilgrim people? Yeah, about those buckles... The fashion of wearing huge buckles on hats, shoes, and belts (as depicted in many images of Pilgrims today) did not occur until later in the seventeenth century. So, along with vegetables, the presence of buckles at the first Thanksgiving was probably minimal.

The festive fall meal held in 1621 did not become an immediate tradition. The colonists held many fall feasts giving thanks in the years following 1621 but the Autumn celebration was not a regular holiday, as it is today. In 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving but it did not receive uniform support throughout the newly formed United States. Thomas Jefferson refused to proclaim a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer (as presidents before him had done) on the grounds the Constitution did not give the office of the Presidency the "authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents" (stated in a letter to Reverend Samuel Miller January 23, 1808). It was President Abraham Lincoln who started the trend of holding Thanksgiving in late November in the way it is known today. In October of 1863, Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving to be held November 26th, which fell on a Thursday. Almost every president since Lincoln has issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving. The exception to this rule, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week ahead in an attempt to extend the holiday shopping season and boost the economy during down times. This change was met with much resistance and in 1941 Congress declared Thanksgiving to be a legal holiday held annually on the fourth Thursday in November.

In the US today, Thanksgiving means for most a four day weekend and time to gather with family. Thanksgiving Day dinner wouldn't be complete without turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving is often referred to as "Turkey Day" since the symbol for the holiday has become this large, gobbling bird. Fall colors, cornucopias, pumpkins, Indian corn, and imagery of stereotypical Pilgrims are also common symbols of Thanksgiving. The Macy's Day Parade (held in New York, NY) has become a Thanksgiving tradition nation wide. First telecast in 1945, the parade continues to play in the homes of millions of viewers every Thanksgiving. More than 44 million people tune in each year to watch the giant balloons, the signature event of the parade, float through the streets of New York City. Although the parade was first held in 1924, the first balloon to walk through the streets was not introduced until 1927, when Felix the Cat made his debut in gigantic rubber form. As the game of Football has grown in popularity in the United State, so has it's place as another Thanksgiving tradition. Watching NFL games on Thanksgiving is a popular pastime, as is playing football on this day with family and friends outdoors in the Autumn weather, often on soggy ground amongst brightly colored fallen leaves, all adding to the atmosphere of the holiday and the game.

Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated the second Monday in October and is meant to give thanks for the fall harvest. The holiday is based on European harvest festival traditions. The first Thanksgiving in Canada is said to have occurred in 1578 in Newfoundland and Labrador. The English explorer, Martin Frobisher, came upon the area on his voyage to find a northern passage to the Orient (he didn't) and established a settlement there. Frobisher held a formal ceremony to give thanks for surviving the long trip across the Atlantic. In the years following this first celebration, the ceremony became more of a tradition. The Canadian Thanksgiving was influenced by American traditions when, during the American Revolution, those loyal to England moved to Canada and brought their customs with them. In 1957, the Canadian Parliament officially declared Thanksgiving to be a day to give thanks for the fall harvest and proclaimed it to be held annually on the second Monday in October.

Today the Thanksgiving holidays in both Canada and the U.S. are celebrated similarly. Turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and cornucopias are popular in Canada for this holiday as well.