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Thanksgiving is only celebrated in the USA where it's a typical American
holiday. The whole family gathers together on this day. So there is a lot
of traffic. On this day, American people commemorate a fact which is
firmly rooted in their history...
As a matter of fact, it concerns their origins. The pilgrims who sailed to
this country were aboard the Mayflower and they came from a Puritan sect.
However, they had earlier fled home in England and gone to Holland so as
to escape religious persecutions. There, they became disenchanted with the
Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly... Seeking a better life, they
organized a pilgrimage to America aboard the Mayflower.
So in 1620 they set ground at Plymouth Rock in December. This first winter
was very hard, cold and devastating. In the following fall, 46 people of
the original 102 were dead. The 1621 harvest was bountiful. So they
celebrated it with a feast, including Indians, who had helped them. It's
believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without
the help of the natives. The feast was more a traditional English harvest
festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted three
days.
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild
ducks and geese. It's not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast.
Nonetheless, it's certain that they had venison.
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The term "turkey"
was used by the pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
But if one day you are going to take part in a thanksgiving party, you are
bound to eat some pumpkin pie. But it's unlikely that the first feast
included that treat. The supply of flour had been diminished, so there was
no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin,
and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was
also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There were no domestic cattle
for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered
by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries,
watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
This thanksgiving feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623,
during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service,
praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day,
Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting
their Indian friends. It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of
Thanksgiving was proclaimed.
In 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal
holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November..
So enjoy this very special day which could be more important than
CHRISTMAS!!
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