Ask an American what is always included at the Thanksgiving dinner table and they will quickly reply “turkey.” Thanksgiving Day is often called Turkey Day due to the importance of the bird in food. But surprisingly, the Pilgrims may not have eaten turkey on the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
As the Pilgrims feasted with the Wampanoag tribe for three days in the Plymouth Colony, they likely concentrated on other waterfowl such as geese, swans and carrier pigeons. Edward Winslow, an English leader, attended the first Thanksgiving Day and wrote that the governor sent men to “hunt” while the Native Americans brought five large deer. William Bradford, the governor of the colony, said that in addition to the waterfowl, they had wild turkeys, venison and a large store of Indian corn.
If turkey was served, it may have been used in a number of different ways during the three-day feast. On the first day, pieces of venison and whole wild birds were reportedly roasted in sauces over charcoal fires. In later days, bushmeat would be used in stews and soups. Pilgrims occasionally stuffed birds with herbs, onions, or nuts, but they didn’t use bread in the stuffing mix, as we do today.
In the following century, turkey continued to be just one of many meats served at Thanksgiving. For example, a Thanksgiving menu from 1779 included the following main dishes: Haunch of Venison Roast; Pork loin; Roast turkey; Pigeon pies; Roast goose Another menu explained that roast beef was the preferred main dish at Thanksgiving dinner, but since meat was not available during the Revolutionary War, the settlers ate a variety of other meats, including turkey.
But in the mid-1800s, the turkey rose to prominence as a centerpiece of the meal. In an 1886 cookbook titled “The Kansas Home Cookbook,” the authors explained that “our Thanksgiving dinner table is not furnished as our grandmothers carried them in ancient times. The board no longer groans, neither literally nor metaphorically, under its load of meat, vegetables and sweets «. Instead, the authors suggested that home cooks make various soups, fish, vegetables, and “[l] a – the central theme, the point of interest grouping – the Thanksgiving turkey!”
By the mid-1900s, turkey was so integral to Thanksgiving traditions that turkeys continued to sell well during the Great Depression and ten million pounds of turkey were shipped to soldiers in 1946 during World War II.
In one of the more unusual Thanksgiving traditions, each year a very lucky turkey receives a presidential adjournment while his companions finish at the table. The tradition began in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy sent back a 55-pound turkey saying, “We’ll just let it grow.” President Richard Nixon sent turkeys to a pet farm in Washington DC, while President George HW Bush gave the first official pardon to a turkey in 1989. Since then, a turkey has been pardoned each year at the National Action Presentation of Thanks from Turkey.
Unfortunately, these turkeys rarely live long because they have been raised for food rather than long lives.
