(SBA) - We tend to think that Thanksgiving is a strictly American observance, but the reality is that the holiday has roots and traditions that stretch back to ancient harvest festivals, evolving into the time of gratitude that we observe today. The term “turkey” comes from the Middle East and was imported to the Americas some 10 million years ago. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Aztecs consumed wild turkeys as a traditional food source. Spanish invaders took turkeys back to Spain; traders took the birds into what was then the most powerful empire, the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) where the bird was bred to become plumper, much like the turkeys we eat today. Early English settlers in America valued the bird as they preyed on the pests that destroyed tobacco plants.
The concept of an annual harvest celebration dates to ancient Greece. A three-day autumn festival known as “Thesmophoria” honored the goddess Demeter, the deity of food grains. Married women of fertile age would build a home for Demeter on the first day, purifying their bodies and souls by fasting on the second day and then preparing a feast including seasonal fruits, plump pigs, corn and sweet cakes in the assumption that Demeter would gift them with many children. In Greek mythology, the cornucopia, a horn shaped basket filled with fruit and flowers, was created with a severed goat’s horn in honor of Zeus with the expectation that he would produce a never-ending supply of whatever the owner desired.
There is evidence that the Pilgrims did not eat turkey during the initial Thanksgiving meal as venison and plump birds were plentiful in the area, while turkeys were often stringy and old. The turkey, however, became such a plentiful food source in the years that followed that Benjamin Franklin, albeit in his dotage, proposed that the turkey be named the new country’s bird, but Franklin’s choice lost out to the Bald Eagle, There is evidence that the 1621 feast by the Pilgrims was not the initial “Thanksgiving” observance. Some historians believe that the first Thanksgiving in the Americas took place upon the arrival of Ponce De Leon in Florida in 1513, while others name Vasquez de Coronado’s service of Thanksgiving in the Texas panhandle in 1541 as the first observance of the holiday. Jamestown, Virginia also claims early Thanksgiving observances in both 1607 and 1610. Sporadic observances, predominantly religious in practice, became simply local events over the next 150 years. George Washington revived the Thanksgiving holiday tradition by designating special days for National Thanksgiving throughout the year. Abraham Lincoln, at the height of the Civil War, declared the observation of Thanksgiving to be held on the last Thursday in November 1863. This day of the week was chosen because it followed the agrarian market day on Wednesday, but it was before Friday when farmers returned to their homes each weekend. The designation of the national holiday by Congress took place in 1941, and was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. One of the oddest Thanksgiving traditions is the Presidential pardoning of a turkey beginning in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush. Pardoned turkeys have served as Grand Marshalls at the Thanksgiving Parades in Disneyland and Disney World, while others “vacationed” at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and became part of a living history museum there.
One of the oddest coincidences of Thanksgiving meals led to the creation of the TV dinner. In 1953, a Swanson employee accidentally ordered 260 Tons of turkey, leading to a great number of poultry leftovers. Another employee suggested pairing the remaining turkey meat with dressing, sweet potatoes, and peas in aluminum trays, thus enabling consumers to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal at any time of the year. The cost of that first tv dinner was 98 cents and over 10 million of these convenience meals was sold in that first year. Realizing the gold mine created by a quick thinking employee led Swanson to become the leading producer of tv dinners for many years. That first meal (hopefully without the original turkey! —260 tons is a LOT of turkey!) can still be found in frozen food cases today. Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy enjoyed tv dinners in the White House, served on “tv trays” that became ubiquitous to American homes in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, debuting in 1924, was originally a small event designed to draw potential customers into downtown New York to shop for Christmas gifts. Macy’s flagship store covered an entire city block in Manhattan and became the self-proclaimed “World’s Largest Store.” Its original draw was the store windows with animated displays of Christmas scenes and seeing these scenes became an annual tradition for many families. Other cities followed suit, including the stores in Washington, DC which I observed annually with my parents in the late 1950s and 1960s. Today, these displays are spectacular only at Macy’s in downtown New York. An early employee of Macy’s, Tony Sarg, designed the early animated figures in the window displays and created the first giant balloons used first in the 1927 Macy’s Parade that included the characters of a dinosaur, a dachshund and Felix the Cat. The Macy’s Parade has been held annually since 1924 except during the years of 1942-1944 when the rubber and helium necessary to craft the balloons was needed for the War effort.
Over the years, the religious element of Thanksgiving has given way to elaborate meals, football games and the plans for the tradition of Black Friday the following day. Regardless of how you observe Thanksgiving, we hope that your day will be filled with food, family and friends. This may be the last quiet day before the rush to Christmas begins!
