The traditional American Thanksgiving meal features seasonal dishes like roasted turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. While this menu is now a beloved holiday staple, the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621 likely looked quite different.
The Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow recorded that the colony's governor, William Bradford, sent men to hunt "fowl" for the three-day celebration. This suggests wild turkey was likely a main dish, rather than the domestic turkeys we associate with modern Thanksgiving. However, the hunting party may have also returned with other birds such as ducks, geese, and swans that were common food sources for both the English settlers and Wampanoag tribe.
Instead of bread-based stuffing, the colonists may have seasoned the birds with herbs, onions, or nuts. And while no records exist of the exact menu, it's known that the Wampanoag guests arrived with an offering of five deer. Culinary historians speculate the deer was roasted on a spit and that the colonists may have used some of the venison to make a hearty stew.
So while the modern Thanksgiving feast features many familiar dishes, the original 1621 celebration was likely a more rustic affair, centered around wild game and seasonal produce rather than the standardized holiday menu we know today.The familiar story of the first Thanksgiving in the United States may not be entirely accurate. Nearly 400 years ago in 1620, over 100 people aboard the Mayflower left England, bound for the New World. Many were members of a religious group seeking to separate from the Church of England, as their beliefs were outlawed in their homeland. Referred to as Pilgrims due to the religious motivations of their journey, the group ended up landing in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, rather than their intended southern destination. The first year in the New World was extremely difficult for the colonists. Most lacked the skills to hunt or grow crops in the harsh New England environment, and half of the original settlers died. It was only through the aid and instruction of the local Wampanoag tribe that the remaining colonists were able to survive. The Wampanoag shared their knowledge of agriculture and hunting, in exchange for protection from rival tribes on their land.
The annual Thanksgiving feast of turkey, cranberry sauce, and pie is a beloved ritual for many. But inevitably, that blissful state of fullness soon gives way to drowsiness, as relatives doze off on the couch. Aunt Mildred, ever the armchair scientist, attributes this to the tryptophan in the turkey you just consumed.
However, the truth is more complex. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that the body uses to produce niacin and serotonin - the latter being a brain chemical that promotes relaxation and well-being. While turkey does contain tryptophan, so do many other protein-rich foods like cheese, yogurt, and even vegetables. The post-feast sleepiness is therefore not unique to turkey, but rather a common physiological response to consuming a large, heavy meal.
The key difference is that turkey's tryptophan content is no higher than that of other foods. So while Aunt Mildred's explanation has a grain of truth, the real culprit behind Thanksgiving naps is simply the body's natural tendency to rest and digest after an indulgent feast - turkey or not.
Black Friday is the busiest day of the year for plumbers, as household guests "overwhelm the system." There are four places in the U.S. named Turkey, the most populous being Louisiana's Turkey Creek with 435 residents. Two Pennsylvania townships are also named Upper and Lower Turkeyfoot.
Finally, we can thank magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale for establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Hale also wrote the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
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