Discovering Thanksgiving: Separating Fact from Fiction
The romanticized image of pilgrims gathered around the table set with an oversized turkey and pumpkin pie is how we define Thanksgiving. In reality, venison along with lobsters and scrawny wild turkeys are the elements of Plymouth's 1621 feast.
"Visitors to Plimoth Plantation are often surprised when we don’t look like a Hallmark card, dressed in big hats and with buckle shoes," said Kathleen Wall, who oversees Plimoth Plantation’s colonial foodways programs. "They’re also surprised to learn that the 1621 Thanksgiving doesn’t resemble the holiday that’s celebrated today." In 1621, Thanksgiving was a harvest festival in the early fall, probably October. It celebrated the economics of having enough to eat, a serious concern for the settlers who nearly starved to death during their first year. Plimoth's harvest festival never was a day of thanksgiving; a day of thanksgiving was a religious day of prayer and fasting. Another historical fact that seems to upset visitors is that …
