The story of the first Thanksgiving is misrepresented by textbooks and other media much too often. In reality, the so-called “Pilgrims” were not actually called that until the late 1800s. During their time, they called themselves “Separatists,” and their reasons for coming to North America were not exactly what you might think. Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims already had religious freedom in Holland, which is where they came from. Instead of coming here for religious freedom, they came to establish a religious theocracy, and, as any sane people would, they came to make that precious cash. When they arrived, the land was no longer inhabited, as almost all of the natives had died of plague. One remaining Native went by the name of Squanto, and his story is more interesting than most give him credit for. You see, Squanto was captured and taken into slavery for a few years. He spent some time over in England, where he learned to speak, well, English. When he eventually returned to his tribe, they were all dead. Squanto met the pilgrims in March of 1621. He was a translator for them, and he taught them the proper ways of planting and fishing. The first Thanksgiving was later that year to celebrate a successful harvest. Now here’s where the stories offered by textbooks and Charlie Brown really begin to differ from reality. There is no evidence to suggest that Natives were invited to the celebration by the Pilgrims, only that they somehow managed to show up. In addition, there is nothing saying that turkey was served. In fact, the only meat that was definitely served was venison.
If we press the fast forward button and stop in the 1830s, we’ll find that New Englanders have rediscovered the Pilgrims’ feast and have decided that it looks like a version of one of their own holidays. They decided to call it Thanksgiving. It was not until the 1860s, however, that Thanksgiving became nationally recognized due to a woman by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale, who was a writer and an advocate for women’s education, among other things. It’s likely that you’ve never heard of Sarah Josepha Hale, but there is a 100% chance that you know one of her works. Sarah Josepha Hale is responsible for the easiest to learn piano song of all time, “Mary’s Lamb,” or as it is more commonly known, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Hale grew up celebrating Thanksgiving, but it was not nationally recognized. She believed that by having a nation-wide Thanksgiving, tensions between the North and South could be eased. Eventually, over 30 U.S. states and territories celebrated Thanksgiving by 1860, but she was still unhappy. In 1861 and 1862, because of Hale’s efforts and multiple Union victories, Abraham Lincoln issued a decree for a national day of thanks. In 1863, the official Thanksgiving decree was issued and we still celebrate it to this day (as if you didn’t already know that.)
The food that we consume on Thanksgiving was certainly not at the Pilgrims’ feast, so why do we eat these items? This question can be answered in the same way that the question of “Why does everyone know Charles Pitman’s phone number?” can be answered: advertising. In the years leading up to the 1920s, chicken, ham, and turkey were all eaten on Thanksgiving. By the 1920s, however, the primary meat eaten on Thanksgiving was turkey. This comes down to advertisers pushing it to be this way. From turkey farmers to turkey baster manufacturers, every advertisement began to revolve around turkey. Religion was used to appeal to families in ads such as Swift’s Premium Turkey, now known as Butterball. The sides that we consume on Thanksgiving are mostly due to turkey as well, as these products were advertised as the perfect pairing for the bird. Of course, not every product that tried to become a part of Thanksgiving tradition succeeded. For instance, Diamond Walnuts and Welch’s Grape Juice never quite hit the mark. Interestingly enough, I do associate Welch’s with Turkey Day, but I digress. According to the Smithsonian, around 88% of households have turkey on Thanksgiving, and around 20% of all turkey sold in a year is sold for Thanksgiving. This is a true testament to the insane power of advertising in America, and while all of these foods are quite enjoyable, it’s a bit frightening that we can have products drilled into our heads with such ease.
The journey to a modern Thanksgiving has had many bumps in the road, but also a few little unknown holiday spin-offs. One such holiday was called “Ragamuffin Day” and it’s just about as horrifying as the name sounds. On this day, little children would dress up as poor people and beg for food and money from random adults. It was like Halloween, but sad. Now you might be wondering, “What would happen if I didn’t give these kids what they wanted?” Logically, the answer is that they would move on to the next random adult… but we don’t live on a logical planet. No, instead of that, they would beat you over the head with a bag of flour and blurt instruments into your ear until you succumbed to their demands. Sounds reasonable, right? Anyways, according to The Hattiesburg News, there is no known origin of this holiday. Either way, thank Christ we don’t do this anymore. Thanksgiving is a holiday which I, along with countless other Americans, adore and treasure, and I hope to celebrate it for years to come.
"Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving is Wrong", Maya Salam, November 21, 2017: This is where I got the information in the second paragraph about the first Thanksgiving and the true story of the Separatists.
"How the 'Mother of Thanksgiving' Lobbied Abraham Lincoln to Proclaim the National Holiday", Barbara Maranzani, November 19, 2019: This is where I got the information regarding Sarah Josepha Hale and her journey to a nationally recognized Thanksgiving.
""Ragamuffin Day" in New York City", Unknown Author, November 24, 1908: This is where I got the information regarding the strange tradition of Ragamuffin Day.
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