Ahh, Thanksgiving, our national holiday,
will soon be here. It’s a time when people
get together with family and friends to
share the day. Talk began awhile back
about the holiday and its turkey ‘n stuffing,
mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy,
pumpkin pie, and a host of other delectable
dishes. It’s to be a day of good ol’ fashioned
feasting, mixed with the giving of thanks,
just like those brave and noble early settlers
did all those centuries ago.
Or did they?
Well, not exactly. In fact, hardly at all!
That is, according to James and Patricia
Scott Deetz. They’re the authors of The
Times of Their Lives; Life, Love, and Death
in Plymouth Colony (2000), a book that sets out to bust all those
lies, er, myths, that we hold so dear about our national turkey-day.
In fact, they achieve their myth-busting goal by page 9, where they
state plainly:
So it is that Thanksgiving as we
think of it today is largely a myth.
Sacre bleu! How can this be?
Well, dear reader, I shall tell you. During the course of the next
few days, I’ll share a few little tidbits from this fascinating book.
Of course, I won’t be copying it word for word or anything; if you
really want to know the whole story, you’ll have to get your own
copy, and read it for yourself. You can also check out Plimoth
Plantation’s website for excellent additional material. After all,
this subject IS that site’s baliwick.*
So, where to start? In their book, the Deetzes begin with the one
and only known eyewitness account of the now-famous event on
which Thanksgiving is based. They then go on to compare portions
of it with what is currently believed. Interestingly, it’s just a mere
paragraph, comprised of only four sentences. Amazing how just
a few words can create an entire cultural phenomenon! In any event,
the piece was written near the end of 1621 in a letter from Mayflower
passenger and colonist Edward Winslow to a friend back in England.
Now, I’m not going to re-type the entire passage (again, you can look
it up or buy the book), just certain parts. When all is said and done,
though, hopefully you’ll gain a new perspective on The Big Day. You’ll
also have a few fun facts to tell all your guests next week!
Let’s start with the food. A big ol’ turkey was on the menu, right?
Maybe. Maybe not. With an emphasis on the latter. Yep, more
than likely, there was no turkey. Now there was plenty of other
fowl, such as ducks, geese, and others, which were abundant
at the time and were thus readily available (the whole heading
South thing). The turkey, however, was not mentioned at all in
Winslow’s letter. What he did write was:
…our governor sent four men on
fowling…The four in one day killed
as much fowl as…served the company
almost a week.
(cool…the first leftovers!)
Besides, any turkeys would’ve been hiding amongst all the trees.
Bagging some duck or other winged creature that’s landed on
one of the many ponds or lakes would’ve been much easier.
Okay, so there were probably no turkeys, just a few ducks, geese,
and such. What else? Any other meat? Or how about cranberries,
perhaps, or a pumpkin pie?
Hmmm…stay tuned.
_________________________
*Another very informative book is Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving Recipes and
History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie, by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver,
and The Plimoth Plantation (2005).
Historic Cookery 