The Real Origins of Thanksgiving
There is no doubt that Thanksgiving is a very nice, family holiday and that it holds a special place in people’s calendars and hearts.
There’s nothing wrong with of at all… except that the pervading myth about the whole feast and its de rigueur menu, which supposedly originated with the Pilgrims in the first half of the 17th century isn’t strictly true at all.
In addition, the Pilgrims were really a very unsavory bunch of Puritans, who had the leave England, where they have overstayed their welcome by a long, long shot.
So, fortunately, the so-called Pilgrims had very little to do with the whole thing. As it happened, it was a creation of 19th century Americans, particularly New Englanders, who wanted to have another national holiday. At the time, we had only two of those: Washington’s Birthday and the Fourth of July. There was also Christmas of course, which wasn’t really counted as a National Holiday.
Abraham Lincoln's presidential order establishing the Thanksgiving Holiday
From the beginning Thanksgiving was a holiday very directly related to food. Something along the lines of a harvest feast, which by that time was celebrated in practically every country of the world in some form.
What really and truly started the whole thing was Sarah Josepha Hale, probably the first female American novelist of note, who has written books, such as Northwood: A Tale of New England and Mary had a Little Lamb. Ms. Hale has written a whole chapter in which she described Thanksgiving in minute detail, with the turkey and the dressing and the gravy and all the other things and ingredients that we now think of as an integral part of the holiday.
Her novel turned out to be extremely popular and Sarah Josepha Hale became the editor a popular woman’s magazine, creating in the process a lot of the mid-19th century fashion trends, one of which was, as you might have guessed, the Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving officially became a National Holiday in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln after some important Union victories during the Civil War issued a presidential order, making it official.
We hope that these tidbits of historical information do not disappoint those who believe in the traditional Pilgrim/Indian-related lore. It still remains a very nice holiday. Probably even nicer, without the nasty Pilgrim/Puritan connotations.
If only the artificially-fattened turkeys tasted better…and if the NFL football games were not a part of it all…
We get the feeling that if Sarah Josepha Hale was faced with both of the above, she would have given up on Thanksgiving altogether.
In any case, a Very Happy Thanksgiving to all! Just don’t overeat, please.
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