Thanksgiving Traditions And The History Behind Them
Thanksgiving in America is a very popular holiday. It is one of my favorite holidays because it does not come with the pressure of gift-giving. It is just an enjoyable day that is about your loved ones, parades, football, and food. The first Thanksgiving feast was held just over 400 years ago, and it was not a federally recognized holiday until 1863. This makes the yearly celebration and its traditions relatively new. While it may not be an ancient holiday, like Halloween or Christmas, Americans have still made Thanksgiving their own. Some of the things we do yearly still harken back to pagan roots. So, let’s take a look at this uniquely American holiday.
Why do we serve turkey at dinner?
Americans have many traditional dishes that go on the table during dinner, but the most famous is the Thanksgiving turkey. Why do we wake up early every Thanksgiving morning to prepare a giant bird that cooks all day? This is because of a legend that turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving feast. But in reality, historians do not think turkey was on the menu at the original feast of 1621. There is very little record of the original Thanksgiving feast, so much of what we think we know is myth. Even though Thanksgiving was not a federal holiday until 1863, having a feast to celebrate Thanksgiving was steadily becoming popular, and many families chose to eat a roasted turkey as the main course.
Turkeys were already a popular choice for feasts in England, and the wild bird was bountiful throughout the original colonies. One turkey can feed many people at once, and it is easy to hunt. But the famous image of a stuffed turkey on the table we all know today really began in 1889 when American author Jane G. Austin wrote a fictional story of the first Thanksgiving in her book “Standish of Standish: A Story of The Pilgrims.” Her story was a tame and mythical version of the pilgrim's first winter in the New World. She left out the harsh realities the colony faced, like the many deaths and diseases. She also added that they ate a stuffed turkey, and the idea stuck. Even though her version of the story is not historically accurate, it became a part of the American story. It began the Thanksgiving tradition of eating a Turkey to celebrate the holiday.
Decorate with a cornucopia?
Another tradition that many people do to celebrate is to decorate the house. Traditional Thanksgiving decorations include fall leaf garlands, pilgrim statues, glass turkeys, decorative corn, and a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables. But why is the cornucopia part of the Thanksgiving decorations?
A cornucopia, also known as the “horn of plenty,” comes to us from Greek and Roman mythology. Cornucopia comes from two Latin words: Cornu, meaning “horn,” and Copia, meaning “plenty.” During Greek and Roman times, the image of an overflowing cornucopia was considered a symbolic accessory that the gods and goddesses carried with them.
The Greeks told a story about baby Zeus when he was being taken care of by Amalthea. Zeus broke off one of her horns, and the horn began overflowing with a never-ending food supply, giving it the nickname “horn of plenty.” It became a symbol of prosperity, abundance, and wealth. Christians eventually adopted this pagan symbol and used it in European harvest festivals as a symbol to celebrate and pray for a bountiful harvest. Even though Thanksgiving in America is new, it does not mean that other countries have not celebrated their own type of Thanksgiving. At its core, Thanksgiving is a festival celebrating the last harvest. European cultures blended on the shores of America, and with it came the tradition of decorating for Thanksgiving with a cornucopia.
Why do we have a parade?
My favorite tradition is to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning while I begin cooking and decorating the table. I am a sucker for traditions and routines, and watching the parade has become my special Thanksgiving ritual. I love watching Broadway performances, the balloons, seeing the floats, and amazing costumes while hearing popular songs.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began as a way to celebrate R. H. Macy & Co. opening its new flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square. It was the world's largest store at the time of its opening, with one million square feet of retail space. They planned to open the store right as the holiday shopping season was to begin. This, coupled with the roaring 20s full of Americans with deep pockets, Macy’s wanted to throw a big parade on Thanksgiving morning in 1924 to celebrate and let people know that the store was open for business. At the time, the parade was not about Thanksgiving; it was meant to be a Christmas parade to entice buyers to shop for the next holiday. The parade was a hit, and it has been a fan-favorite tradition for many households ever since. It expanded yearly, eventually being broadcast on local New York TV in 1939 and then broadcast on national TV in 1948. This year, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is celebrating its 97th year, and the parade is one of the most watched events in America, with 25.4 million views last year.
The National Dog Show
A new tradition that is growing every year is the National Dog Show. After the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC Sports aired the National Dog Show, and it quickly became a fan favorite. While it has been shown on TV since 2002, the show itself has been going since the late 1800s. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show was held for the first time in 1879. The show was held annually through 1927 and then resumed in 1933 and has been held on the third from the last weekend in November ever since. In 2002, NBC Sports decided to start filming the dog show that, in reality, lasts two full days and condense it down to an hour-long show with lovable hosts who discuss every dog and what many of them are famous for.
Pardon the turkey?
Each Thanksgiving, the President of the United States participates in an interesting tradition called the "Turkey Pardon," where the U.S. President symbolically saves a turkey from the dinner table, granting it a presidential pardon and a chance to live out its days in peace. This quirky tradition, which gained popularity in the 20th century, reflects a blend of presidential authority and a touch of humor. It can be hard to pinpoint exactly when this tradition began, but the Turkey Pardon symbolizes the beginning of the holiday season.
Break a Wishbone
The tradition of breaking a wishbone for good luck or to get a wish granted goes back thousands of years. While the pilgrims brought over this tradition from Europe, it can be traced back to the Etruscans, who were a civilization in ancient Italy. The breaking of the wishbone stretches back to at least 800 BCE, and it was considered a practice of bird divination. Bird divination is an ancient practice of using birds as an oracle to predict the future. They believed that after a chicken was killed, you could lay its wishbone in the sun so it would continue to hold the bird's magical properties. As the bone dried, people would place their hands on it and make a wish, hoping it would come true. This practice continued throughout Roman times, and the tradition spread throughout the British Isles as the Romans conquered more land.
The first record of this practice in Britain was in 1455 during the St. Martin’s Day harvest celebration in November. It was described more like a fun party game where two single people would break each side of the wishbone, and whoever got the bigger piece would be the next to marry. The bone was called a “merrythought.” The first real mention of the word “wishbone” from a Thanksgiving turkey comes from an article in The Sun Newspaper of Baltimore, Maryland. Today, many people have meshed the practices of the wishbone together. After drying the wishbone out in the sun, two people make a wish and pull on it to break it in half. Once it is broken, whoever gets the bigger piece means their wish will come true.
Why do we watch football?
These days, Thanksgiving traditions have a lot to do with TV. After I am done watching the parade and the dog show, the next thing I look for is a football game. Football on Thanksgiving is a huge deal in America, and it started with college games. The Intercollegiate Football Association began holding its championship game on Thanksgiving Day in 1876. In 1880, New York was chosen as the permanent home for this game, which helped make football a Thanksgiving holiday tradition.
When the NFL began in 1920, they wanted to make Thanksgiving a game day as well. It took a while, but in 1934, the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day in an attempt to boost game attendance. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day ever since. In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys began playing on the holiday. In 2006, another game was added to the schedule. The teams playing in the third game vary from year to year. In 2021, 108 million people watched football on Thanksgiving, which increased to 138 million viewers in 2022.
For some, Thanksgiving can be a little overwhelming. Between trying to make sure everything is cooked on time and trying to keep up with live TV broadcasts, it can be hard to enjoy the real meaning of the holiday, which is to be with family and friends. I hope all of you can find a nice balance of hanging out with your loved ones and enjoying your favorite traditions.
Thanks for reading about all of these Thanksgiving traditions. To those who celebrate, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Ariel