Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

Nov 23, 2006

American Thanksgiving - November 23^rd

The very first American Thanksgiving took place in 1621 and was a celebration by the English pilgrims that had landed in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. It had been a long and trying trip over from England on their ship, the Mayflower, and the pilgrims wanted to celebrate their arrival in the New World with a giant feast. Today, Americans still celebrate the arrival of the pilgrims every year, on the fourth Thursday in November.

The First Thanksgiving

Let's go back to the year 1620. A bunch of pilgrims had just come over from England because they were bullied for their strict religious beliefs there and they thought America would give them a chance to start a new life. They landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts on their ship, the Mayflower. Their first year in America really sucked - they couldn't find food and nearly half of the 102 people who first came over were dead by the next fall. But in 1621 things started to look better - they had a huge harvest with a ton of food. To celebrate, they held a huge feast and invited a group of Indians who had helped the Pilgrims get through that first difficult year. It was quite the party - three days of pigging out on venison, various birds, fish, fruit, and vegetables. That was the first Thanksgiving.

When Is Thanksgiving?

It's not clear what the exact date was for the first Thanksgiving, but it was sometime between October and December of 1621. For a long time Thanksgiving was celebrated whenever peeps felt like it. Then after the American Revolution, George Washington declared November 26th Thanksgiving. In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday in November, which is when we celebrate it now.

The Menu For the First Thanksgiving:

· Pumpkin pie was never served - there was no flour in New England at that time.

· Potatoes didn't make it onto the table. Many Europeans still thought this vegetable was poisonous.

· A letter written by one of the pilgrims mentions that they served venison (wild deer) and wild fowl - probably turkey, duck and goose. Rabbit would also have been served. Other traditional items served at an English feast would have included cornbread and pudding.

Cheese was a tasty treat. Vegetables would have included corn, onions and pumpkin. They did NOT eat corn on the cob at the time, the corn was only suitable for dishes and meal. Fish was usually not served at great feasts because it was too "common".  They did have lobster, which was plentiful off the shores of Massachusetts.

Note that the first Thanksgiving would not have had sweet desserts, and there was no popcorn at the time. Feasters were usually too stuffed by the end of the meal to think about eating anything else!

As you might imagine when cooking for 150+ people, the meal was not high on intricate cooking. However, the food was very tasty, as both the English and the Native Americans knew about how to plan for large parties. There were no forks at the time - just knives and spoons, and plates were usually wooden.

Here are some suggestions for recipes with a 1600s flair. Note that the early pilgrims did NOT have pigs so anything involving ham or bacon would be inappropriate. Also note that cranberry was not introduced until many years later.

Cornbread - admired by both the English and Native Americans
English Cheese Pie - cheese was important to the English
Venison - five deer were brought by the Native Americans
Wild Turkey - Native Americans and English alike enjoyed this meal
Garlic and Onions - staples of the diet
Pumpkin Pudding - there wasn't pumpkin pie at the time
Indian Pudding - can be served as a warm or cold dessert

The sugar supply brought over on the Mayflower from England was nearly exhausted by the time of the first Thanksgiving, so it is widely surmised that wheat pudding may have been one of the only sweet dishes served.

The Wampanoag Indians
When the Pilgrims first landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in Dec. 26, 1620, it was the day after Christmas. Those who know Massachusetts winters realize that this was just about the worst time to land, with frozen land, no food, and bitter snows coming shortly. The ship had carried 102 passengers, and about half of the Pilgrims died during this first winter. Still, that even some of them survived was thanks to the native Wampanoag Indians, who met up with them soon after they landed.

The Wampanoags lived in small villages along the coastline of both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They fished, farmed, and were generally peaceful and friendly. They lived in wigwams, and wore deerskin outfits.

Squanto
The Indian which helped the Pilgrims the most was "Squanto", who had visited England before and knew how to speak English and work with these visitors. His ability to communicate with the Pilgrims and show them how to survive in this harsh winter was key to their survival.

The First Thanksgiving
The pilgrims invited their two key Indian helpers, Squanto, Samoset, plus Chief Massasoit, to share in their Thanksgiving since they had been so instrumental in the pilgrims? successes that summer. The Indians brought their families, numbering over 90 people. The pilgrims were overwhelmed, and didn’t have enough food, so the Indians brought along their own supplies for the feast. The Wampanoags brought turkey, deer, berries, squash, cornbread, and beans - things that they'd farmed and that they'd shown the Pilgrims how to care for.

Cultural Differences
The Wampanoag Indians normally ate sitting on the ground, on furs. For this special occasion, they sat at the tables with the Pilgrims. The Indian women and men both ate together. Pilgrim women didn’t have this equal status though - they had to stand behind their men folk, dutifully waiting until the men were done and full before they were allowed

Recipe for Indian Pudding:

The first year the Pilgrims spent in America was difficult and harsh. They quickly learned to depend on the foods available in the land, which included corn, beans, and squash. When times were hard, it was quite common for them to eat corn in some manner three times a day. The resourceful colonial women learned to make a wide variety of breads, puddings, and pies from cornmeal. The Indians taught them how to create a pudding that featured cornmeal with molasses as a sweetener. It became known as Indian pudding. This version includes two colonial luxuries – eggs and sugar. Today the pudding is still served, but modern versions often top it with vanilla ice cream. This recipe serves six.

You need:

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

3 cups milk

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

What to do:

Preheat oven to 300°.

Grease the bottom and sides of a baking dish with 1 tablespoon margarine or butter.

In a saucepan, combine milk and molasses. Then gradually stir in cornmeal.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens. This will take about 10 minutes.

Remove pudding from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon margarine or butter.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg. Then add sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

Gradually add egg mixture to hot cornmeal pudding.

Pour in greased baking dish and bake, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 hours or until pudding has thickened.

(Optional) Serve topped with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Note: The pudding is especially tasty when served warm.

THANKSGIVING TODAY

Different, perhaps today, yet still the same,

Thanksgiving with its upward lifting flame

Of gratitude to God!  The thankful prayer

Offered for sun, and rain, and clean bright air,

For the old simplicities of life we know:

The love of home that sets our hearts aglow;

The daily sacrifices that we make

For our own, and for our country’s sake;

The unaccustomed work that we have done

To bring a victory that must be won;

The new strength gathered for the day ahead;

The grace we say above our loaf of bread;

The things that we have learned to do without-

Changes in ways of living, without doubt;

And yet, in spite of grief and lengthened war,

There still are countless things to thank God for.

Hartson S. Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net