Thanksgiving history and lore: a day to be truly thankful
by Arline Zatz
Thanksgiving is celebrated in many ways. For some people, it’s merely a day off from work and an opportunity to relax or rake up the remainder of fallen leaves. For others, it’s a good excuse to go into the city to watch the traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, or stay at home and watch it on TV while waiting for the lavish turkey dinner to be served. However, for the majority of people, Thanksgiving is a day to remember all we hold dear and to give thanks surrounded by family and friends.
Thanksgiving is steeped in various traditions. Did you ever wonder how and when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade originated? Many of the store’s employees emigrated from Europe and, missing their homeland harvest festivals, they requested — and were granted — a gala affair to commemorate the good old days. The first parade was held in 1924. Complete with a giant turkey float, bands, clowns, and live lions and bears, it turned out to be such a huge success, that it was repeated. However, because the live animals frightened children, they were replaced with air-filled balloons, including Felix the Cat, a dragon, an elephant, and a toy soldier. In 1929, tickets good for merchandise at Macy’s were placed in certain balloons, but when hundreds of people tried to rip apart downed balloons to grab a ticket, this practice was stopped. The parade — which has been held each year except from 1942 to 1944 when rubber was needed for the World War II effort — has not only gotten bigger and better, but has become a Thanksgiving tradition.
Another tradition is saving the turkey’s ‘wishbone.” This is a practice where two people pull on opposite ends of the V-shaped clavicle and, after each makes a silent wish, the person who has broken off the larger piece supposedly has the wish come true. This custom, over 2400 years old, originated with the Etruscans, an ancient people who lived between two rivers located west and south of the Apennines off one of Italy’s peninsula. A cultured people, the Etruscans believed that the hen and the cock were soothsayers — the hen because just before laying an egg she would emit a squawk, and the cock because at the crack of dawn he crowed to announce the start of a new day!
The Etruscans also believed that the hen had special powers. They would trace a circle on the ground and divide it into approximately 20 parts representing the letters of their alphabet. Grains of corn were then placed into each section, and a sacred hen was set in the center of the circle. Each time she pecked at a piece of corn, it represented a letter, which a high priest interpreted as answers to specific questions. When the sacred fowl was killed, its collarbone was laid in the sun to dry, and any Etruscan wishing to benefit from the oracle hen’s powers picked up the bone, stroked it, and makes a wish. This is where the name “wishbone” comes from.
While before Romans later adopted many of the Etruscans’ practices, two centuries passed before these bones would be broken to make a wish. Roman writings hint that because there were too many people making wishes and a short supply and demand for these sacred bones, the person breaking off the larger piece had the best chance of the wish coming true! If you’re wondering why the V-shaped clavicle was chosen, it is believed that it resembles the human crotch and, therefore, is a symbol of the repository of life.
The Romans later brought the wishbone superstition to England where the bone became known as a “merry thought,” for the “merry” wishes people usually made. By the time the Pilgrims reached the New World, breaking the clavicle bone of a chicken had become a tradition, but when they discovered wild turkeys roaming the woods with clavicles similar to those of chickens, the Pilgrims simply began using turkey wishbones, making it part of their Thanksgiving festival.
While enjoying your Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to discuss how this holiday feast began. The customary feast goes way back. The Greeks honored Demeter, goddess of agriculture; Romans thanked Ceres, the goddess of corn; Hebrews acknowledged abundant harvests with the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles; and the Pilgrims, who sailed here on board the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth on December 11, 1620 — faced with miserable weather, a plague that killed scores of local Indians as well as their own people — felt they had to give thanks that they were alive and had a bountiful crop. So, in the fall of 1621, William Bradford, their newly elected governor, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The celebration lasted for three days, complete with a parade of soldiers, the sound of bugles and blasting muskets, and all sorts of competitions between the Indians and Pilgrims.
The foods they prepared for this day of thanks weren’t the traditional foods — turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie — we enjoy today. At that time, turkey probably meant any guinea fowl, a bird with a featherless head and rounded body. Most likely, the menu included venison, watercress, leeks, dried berries, and ‘boiled’ pumpkin since their flour stock for making a piecrust had been used while sailing here. The plentiful corn was kneaded and fried in venison fat.
In October 1777, all thirteen colonies shared a common thanksgiving celebration, but the first national Thanksgiving proclamation was issued in 1789 by President George Washington. Unfortunately, his executive order was ignored chiefly because so many people felt that the hardships endured by only a few settlers weren’t worthy enough. Later, President Thomas Jefferson actually condemned a national recognition of this celebration. It wasn’t until 1827, when Sarah Joseph Hale, editor of a popular magazine, began a one-woman crusade for a Thanksgiving celebration. Through her editorials, she urged the public to write to their local politicians to make this day one of national observance. For approximately 40 years, she bombarded governors, ministers, newspaper editors, each incumbent President, and her thousands of readers, to set aside the last Thursday in November to “offer to God our tribute of joy and gratitude for the blessings of the year.” Her request became a reality after the Battle of Gettysburg, where hundreds of Union and Confederate soldiers lost their lives and the north celebrated their victory. This prompted President Abraham Lincoln, on October 3, 1863, to issue a proclamation setting aside the last Thursday in November as a national Thanksgiving Day.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted Thanksgiving back one week, to the third Thursday in November because merchants complained they didn’t have enough time to sell goods until Christmas. They were pleased, but everyone else was angry, resulting in protests throughout the nation. In defiance of the presidential proclamation, people continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of the month, and even took the day off from work! In the spring of 1941, Roosevelt finally apologized for his error in judgment and restored the holiday to its original last Thursday in November. To make up for it, the merchants began offering sales and discounts for Christmas way before Thanksgiving.
Since the emphasis is on food this wonderful holiday, plans should be made well in advance so the party hosts can sit back and enjoy everything with the guests. Feel free to accept any offers of help; think of asking friends and relatives to share in bringing certain favorite dishes they make so well; and think of novel ways to make the table especially inviting. Instead of using paper boots for the turkey drumsticks, why not use fluffy flower or cored apples at the ends?
Think of different ways to serve the turkey, too. Consider roasting it foil-wrapped so you don’t have to worry about basting; make it oven-fried by cutting it into pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dip into a butter mix, roll in crushed packaged herb-stuffing, place skin side up in a pan, and bake at 350° for about 1-3/4 hours to serve 4-7 people; or roast it outdoors in the barbecue so you can keep the oven free for pies and other goodies. For something really different, serve Cornish game hens on a platter with wild rice or browned rice, accompanied by veggies. Creamed onions are always a hit, and delicious recipes can be found in almost every cookbook.
The most important tradition of all on this Thanksgiving Day is to enjoy and give thanks for all that you have.