History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a big feast day on the American calendar. Throughout America, families gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. It is customary to have dinner on Thanksgiving Day around a festive dining table, with designer placemats, glowing candles and the finest crockery, kept for such special occasions.

First Thanksgiving festival

Pilgrims who sailed to America on the Mayflower reached Plymouth in 1620. After their arrival they had to face a terrible winter. Forty six of the original hundred and two died the following fall. Fortune turned in their favor with a bumper harvest in 1621; the rain that marked the end of the drought and revived their crop and corn and other fruits. They decided to give thanks to God for saving their lives after their difficult trip on the Mayflower and the drought. They celebrated their good fortune with their neighbors - Massasoit, the chief of the Native Indians or Wampanoags, and his family. He came with all his extended family that constituted ninety people and stayed for three days. This first Thanksgiving feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival and lasted three days.

Thanksgiving meal

Contrary to popular belief, Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, cornbread, roasted turkey do not owe its roots to the original Thanksgiving meal of the Pilgrims. While wild turkey may have been the main course, it was probably accompanied by venison and fish. Regardless of what the early dishes consisted of, todays turkey has become the culinary symbol of this feast. Millions of turkeys are raised each year to be consumed on this day each year.

Today, although the traditional turkey is still the meat of choice, a wide variety of dishes have been included in the Thanksgiving dinner. A Thanksgiving meal today includes a wide variety of foods. Together with turkey, duck, ham, some of the sea's harvests, sweet potatoes, peas, rice dishes, greens, and even more exotic vegetables may be included.