Thanksgiving Why Turkey?

I as an American living in Warsaw, Poland am often asked “Why a turkey?”. This question when put to the average American would be answered in the form that it was what was eaten by the pilgrims during the first thanksgiving which became a tradition afterward and this a nice story. The idea of continuing a tradition started by those whose suffering in the new world gave way to them being thankful for their first good harvest which they celebrated with a huge turkey meal is sentimental but is it true? Did the pilgrims really eat turkey during the first thanksgiving meal? This is a question that many historians have come to ask if the pilgrims in fact ate the bird we today know and refer to as a turkey because the pilgrims called every form of wild fowl a turkey even those that were not what we today call a turkey.

It is strange for many and perhaps unacceptable that the pilgrims might not have eaten turkey as it has become such a symbol of this holiday but there is a possibility they might not have. Lobster, deer which perhaps nobody would ever associate with Thanksgiving were surely eaten but there is one thing that we can almost eliminate from what could have been on the menu and that is pumpkin pie as the pilgrims more then likely had run out of flour by then.

Of course it is not really a matter of tremendous significance if the pilgrims who are very often referred to as our forefathers ate what today is known and accepted as turkey but what is some might say is the fact that they were giving thanks to God for the blessings they had received during the year. This again based on what we know today can also be disputed, not that there ever was a feast but that its intension was to show gratitude toward God. Yes, it is true the pilgrims were deeply religious in a way that did not allow them to wear any colors apart from black also holding believes that dancing, drinking and music were irreligious but this reason is precisely why some argue that theirs was not really a feast of thanks. The logic for this disbelieve that questions lies in the fact that these were deeply religious people not despite it. In those days thanking God was done in a completely different manner then it is today as giving thanks to God in those days specially by deeply religious people was done in the form of praying and fasting and not in the form of huge feasts. In the opinion of several historians the feast of the pilgrims was in fact a harvest celebration which was a very common thing at the time and not a day for giving thanks to anybody contrary to the story most Americans are told in school. One reason I can see for this change in the story is perhaps the United States government felt that a day of thanks would be more eagerly celebrated then a “harvest day” especially by those whose livelihood was not dependent on agriculture.

Contrary to what some may think the Thanksgiving feast was not repeated by the pilgrims the following year as the harvest was not as abundant and it was not before two years passed after the first feast that it was repeated. Strangely enough many historians have cause to believe that this second feast was in fact the first real “Thanksgiving Day Dinner” fore it was then that the pilgrims had a day to give thanks for the rain that brought to end the long draught which they felt their prayers to God have been responsible for.

Another Thanksgiving day fact that took me by surprise when I first heard it was that the pilgrims only held this feast twice which goes in stark contrast to what I had believed that this celebration was repeated by them year after year. The reality was that not till much later during the Lincoln administration did “Thanksgiving” became recognized as an official holiday as it was Lincoln who took time out from the “Civil War” to make it such. To many however at the time in congress the sufferance of a what in fact could be called a handful of Pilgrims as they only numbered 100 (not all members of the “Separatist Church of England” and most of whom died less then 5 years after reaching the new world) did not substantiate having a national holiday. As for me, I can see where there was certain logic in this however when saying this I do not wish it understood that I am against this holiday as I celebrate it every year despite not having been in the States in over 13 years.

There is another factor which I also find odd in the telling of the history surrounding Thanksgiving or at least in the way it is told in American schools and that being that it is never mentioned that the Pilgrims left England but originally it was not to go to the new world but to the Netherlands. Holland where they stayed for many a year but eventually left finding the Dutch way of life to be “ungodly” as well as the fact that some of their children were speaking Dutch instead of English as unbearable. I find it funny on a lighter side of this that the clothes we associate with the pilgrims meaning the long black hats the men wore which in my opinion resemble a witch’s hat were really Dutch as was the rest of their garments and this perhaps is the reason that men in this attire can be found on boxes of “Dutch Masters Cigars”.

The question of why the turkey is however not the only one I hear in Poland year after year from those whom I mention Thanksgiving to as very often I am asked to share my knowledge on why it is held on the 4th Thursday of November as opposed to having a fixed date like Christmas? This question I can not answer with certainty but I will try to use my imagination as to what might have lead the United States government to set the day as such.

In the first place they chose a Thursday meaning that they more then like always wanted it to be on a weekday unlike Christmas which some years can fall on a Sunday. But some insist why the 4 Thursday of November not another day for instance the 3 Wednesday of October?
This again with reason as an ally I can retort that those who chose this day were probably looking for a day that would help mark the begging of the Christmas shopping season but not one that would be so close to it that it would be competing with it. This 4th Thursday if one thinks about it is ideal as it can fall anywhere between the 28th of November at the latest or the 22nd at the earliest.

Another reason I can speculate why Thursday was chosen as opposed to shall we say Friday or Wednesday, is that Thanksgiving being on Thursday makes it possible for stores to close on Thursday for Thanksgiving and then use the following Friday to get themselves ready for what would be the first Saturday of the holiday shopping season. The reason this happens is that the day after Thanksgiving though not an official bank Holiday is taken as such at least as far as schools and department stores are concerned. This in my opinion being a good technique to follow given that Saturday is the most popular shopping day and these stores want to take advantage of it and be ready for the first Saturday of the Christmas shopping season.

Despite these discrepancies in the tale which to my personal way of seeing things are interesting but do not change nor diminish what Thanksgiving has become, which is an American holiday which can be celebrated by anybody regardless of nationality or religion. The reason I can even say any religion is because this day or what this day has been transformed in to is a day on which we Americans give thanks for what we have but strangely enough it is no longer connected with giving thanks to anybody in particular or even God.

Another factor connected with Thanksgiving that makes it a great secular holiday for anybody is the fact that it is not really connected to patriotism as it does not celebrate the wining of a battle or the gaining of independence. This leaving it open to be celebrated by anybody regardless of nationality who would like to eat a turkey and give thanks for he or she has that he or she considers worth being thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!