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November 21, 2012
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Monroe County Outdoors
Why is turkey the main dish on Thanksgiving?
BY TERRY W. JOHNSON
f you were asked why we
eat turkey on Thanksgiving
Day, what you would say?
If you are like me, you
might answer, "We
eat turkey because it was
served at the first
Thanksgiving celebrated
by the Pilgrims.” Al
though that is a very good
answer, is it correct? The
answer is probably, “No.”
Actually the only indi
cation that turkeys actu
ally made their way to
the Thanksgiving table
was penned by the
Pilgrim leader William
Bradford. In his book entitled,
“Of Plymouth Plantation: 1620-
1647,” he wrote, "....besides
waterfowl there was a great
store of wild turkeys, of which
they took many." In fact, some
historical documents suggest
that if turkey was eaten during
the holiday, it was late in the
three-day celebration.
The only wild animals that we
are absolutely sure were eaten
at the first Thanksgiving by the
Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag
warriors and their Chief
Massasoit in 1621 were white
tailed deer, ducks and geese.
Fearing that they were going to
run out of food the Pilgrims
asked Chief Massasoit if he
could send out some of his war
riors to obtain more game. In
response to the request, the
Chief dispatched
some of his warriors
to kill the needed
wild animals. They
returned with at
least five deer.
No records were
kept of the number of
ducks and geese
taken. Both were
extremely abundant.
One journalist stated
that a party of four
could shoot enough
ducks and geese to supply 150
colonists food for a week!
Since Plymouth harbor teemed
with fish and shellfish, more
than likely oysters, lobsters, cod,
herring, eels, and other sea food
delicacies were eaten during this
festive time.
During the early years of the
Plymouth Colony wild turkeys
were also abundant in what is
now Massachusetts. Colonial
journals record that one might
see as many as 1,000 birds in a
single day. Roosting flocks were
said to number 500 or more.
Being so abundant, it is hard to
fathom why the colonists would
McLendon shoots first deer
Madden McLen
don, 11, shot his
first ever deer in
Monroe County
on Nov. 3.
McLendon, the
son of Laura
McLendon, is a
sixth grader at
Monroe County
Middle School.
not eat them during their festivi
ties in 1621.
If turkey were an afterthought,
how did it become inexorably
linked to this special holiday?
One theory contends that it
can be traced back to the 16th
century and Queen Elizabeth.
According to the story,
the queen was enjoying
a banquet celebrating
the harvest festival.
The main course was
goose. While dining the
queen was advised that
the Spanish Armada
had sunk and England
was now safe from a
Spanish onslaught. The
queen was so overjoyed
with the news she order
a second goose be pre
pared for the meal.
From that point for
ward, the goose became
the favorite bird served at har
vest time.
However, by the time the
Pilgrims sailed to the New
World the turkey replaced the
goose on the tables of most
upperclass Englishmen during
holiday celebrations.
Many historians suggest that a
number of other factors played
important parts in the turkey's
role as the main dish served at
holiday meals in this country.
One reason is that many English
settlers wanted to continue the
English tradition of serving
turkey during the holidays. This
was bolstered by the fact that
turkeys were inexpensive.
Dressed turkeys, typically wild
birds taken by
market hunters,
sold for as little
-».j as 1.5 cents per
pound in the
1730s.
Beef, on the
other hand was
n't readily avail
able in markets
until the late
1800’s. Roosters
were considered
too tough to be
served as a main
dish at
Thanksgiving or
Christmas. Hens, on the other
hand, were more valuable as egg
producers. Deer meat became
increasingly harder to come by
as they were decimated by early
market hunters. As for pork, it
was a popular meat that wasn't
special enough to be served dur
ing the holidays.
When Abraham Lincoln made
Thanksgiving a national holiday
in 1863, the turkey was one of
the most common meats served
during Thanksgiving and
Christmas. This popularity is
linked in large part to the popu
larity of Charles Dickens' A
Christmas Carol. Published in
England in 1843, the story
became unbelievably popular
throughout England. When the
book reached America, it proved
to be a best seller on this side of
the Atlantic too. If you will
recall, a repentant Scrooge gave
a Christmas turkey to the
Cratchit family. Thousands of
readers were so moved by this
story that they began serving
turkey on two of our most cher
ished holidays, Thanksgiving
and Christmas.
As you can see, the answer to a
simple question can often be
quite complicated. The bottom
line is that nowadays most
Americans can't imagine
Thanksgiving without a roast
turkey sitting the center of their
dinner table. As such, I suspect
this tradition will be with us for
a long time.
Terry Johnson has written
Monroe County Outdoors for The
Reporter for years. Email your out
door question or comment for him
to tjwoodduck@aol.com.
Swat finishes runner-up in U-12
The Swat, coached by Lira Reid and Allen Benson, were the regular season soccer
champions and second-place overall in the U-12 division at the Monroe County
Recreation Department. Pictured on the front row from left to right: Ashleigh
Slaughter, Madison Bogulski, Jasmine Taylor, Caleb Smith, Bailey Niblett, Skylar
Reid and Macie James. On the back row from left to right: Cody Mercer, Coach
Allen Benson, Coach Lira Reid, Chaz Salters and Hunter Benson. Not Pictured:
Emily Joseph. (Photo/Christy Lawson)