Thanksgiving or Christmas: who was first with the turkey?

By Ellen Przepasniak

The first American Thanksgiving was in 1621 and was simply called the Harvest Celebration. It occurred at Plymouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, between the Puritans and the Wampanoag tribe. According to historians, it probably wasn’t anything like its modern reincarnation. Today, Americans celebrate with a long weekend, watching American football, parades and eating copious amounts of food.

The meal, of course, remains the most important part of the day. A traditional meal is comprised of turkey with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, brown gravy, squash, sweet potatoes, corn and topped off with pumpkin pie. Every family has their own variations, but the staples of squash, corn and sweet potatoes are autumn harvest vegetables and were probably the only common dishes from the first Thanksgiving. This article from 1913 set out to explain this strange American tradition for the Brits:

It is a nice question, which does not appear to have been authoritatively settled, whether the European Christmas turkey or the American Thanksgiving turkey is the elder fowl. To most Englishmen it may seem that the matter needs little argument, and that Thanksgiving turkey, with or without its cranberry sauce, comes near to heresy; but the turkey, after all, is purely a creature of the New World, exclusively confined, in its wild state, to North and Central America ... Read on

President George Washington declared the first official Thanksgiving in 1789, but it was not until 1847 that The Times noticed it, by reprinting an announcement from a New York newspaper:

The day being set apart by the Governor as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, business of all kinds has been suspended, and our citizens have been engaged in festivities suitable for the occasion. At this season of the year, when commercial movements are drawing to a close, a day of this kind is very acceptable to all classes, and is pretty generally observed.

But leave it up to President Abraham Lincoln to deliver the most eloquent reason to gather for Thanksgiving. In 1863, he urged Americans to celebrate the successes of the Civil War, and especially for “the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies … bounties which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come.”

During the First World War, American troops in France were given the day off to play football (American-style, presumably), watch “moving picture exhibitions” and, of course, eat. The Times correspondent observes: “Never before in the history of the country has so much turkey been consumed on one day.”

In 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated at the American Society in London. The American ambassador took the opportunity to compare the experience of the first pilgrims to the current war, which had just begun:

There was no way of knowing what the future might hold. All they could do was to face that future with fortitude, with faith, and with thankfulness for the blessings which they still enjoyed.

It wasn’t until 1941 that Americans were officially given the fourth Thursday in November off for Thanksgiving as Congress passed a bill making it a federal holiday. But by 1942, the US had entered the war and taking the day off for relaxation and gluttony seemed arbitrary. Spirits remained high, even though food was being rationed:

The encouraging news from the war fronts and the feeling that this country and its allies are fighting in a good cause have lifted the spirits of those who were saddened by loss and separation.

Even Churchill got into the spirit at a 1944 Thanksgiving celebration at the Albert Hall, praising American troops for their war effort:

But there is a great thanksgiving day which still shines ahead, which beckons the bold and loyal and warm-hearted, and that is when this union of action which has been forced upon us by wars against tyranny, which we have maintained during those dark and fearful says, shall become a lasting union of sympathy and feeling and loyalty and hope between all the British and American peoples, wherever they may dwell.

Though most Americans dump some canned pumpkin into a store-bought pie shell, The Times decided to elevate the traditional pumpkin pie recipe by making everything from scratch and adding a bit of brandy - for flavour of course.

Picture shows a wartime Thanksgiving Day service for the American Forces in Westminster Abbey, 1942

Comments

[Donald Hutton]

The first American Thanksgiving was at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia in 1619. The group in Massachusetts were Johnny come latelies to North America. The correction to our history was noted in a proclamation by Massachusetts' son President Kennedy. I'm not sure if the Indians and the recently arrived slaves were invited.

[adamw]

thanksgiving must be the only celebration in the world designed to celebrate genocide

[claire]

It's known as the parson's nose as it's supposed to be pointy and sharp in a stereotypical fashion.

[daniel Morgan]

I shot an cooked wild turkey its tough stringy, the best way to cook it is the way alot of wild turkey were cooked to get the most out of it, that was by slow stewing it,
just have to watch the bird shot. lol

[Michael Sullivan]

Let it be known that Canada celebrates Thanksgiving too, on the second Monday of October. Less of a religiously based day, but a great day to thank the farmers and all associated with providing the bounty we have! Of course God can be, and is thanked by many! Our Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday, of the year!

[c matossian]

Does it matter so much who was first- What matters most is who sticks to the tradition. Ever since I was a child, My father insisted we go to British schools when we lived overseas.
One thing I cannot understand till today is that, just try and live in the UK for 6 months and all you will hear is about the pubs and the chips which are full of fat.
So If the english think that they are the only ones to have fun in this world, why dont they look around to check that life is not only about the British- Sorry
Glutony exists in a great deal in the UK. So before you comment rudely at others and put a feast that is special to Americans, look in the mirror- check out the words that come from your mouth first.
I have had enough of the Britts especially making fun of the whole world, and no one laughs with them.
Christine

[Jerry Scroggin]

As a youth I always asked for a drumstick
and also liked the wings.
How many know at the front end there is an
appendage known as the Pope's Nose?

Wild turkey must be stringy and lacking fat
in Nov. aren't anywhere near like the farm
raised turkeys.

[Mike Franklin]

Aside from Ben Franklin’s purported desire to make the gobbler our national bird, it is indeed a delicious, if not all too neglected menu delight.

Contrary to most tastes, I personally prefer the dark meat to the light. It is much heartier and less dry… or requiring of gravy and a glass of iced tea to wash it all down.