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Thanksgiving Food Customs through the Centuries

Thanksgiving is one of the most food-focused days on our national calendar. President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday in 1863, but accounts of the original “Harvest Celebration” date back to the 1600s. Many writers and historians have written books and articles to describe the elaborate feast enjoyed by the Wampanoag Indians and Pilgrims in Massachusetts. Interestingly, some of the earliest accounts include no mention of turkey, while later references suggest a “great store of wild turkeys.”

Given the timing and location of the original feast, detailed menus included waterfowl, lobster, corn, beans, squash, mussels, and oysters. Thanksgiving tables today, however, are traditionally loaded with potato dishes, stuffing, gravies, turkey, and pumpkin pie, of course. Many of today’s “traditional” dishes and recipes stem from Godey’s Lady’s Book, a magazine from the 1800s edited by Sarah Josepha Hale, who urged Lincoln to designate the national holiday.

Whether you enjoy an original 1600s menu or the longstanding 1800s version of the feast, you will likely find unique family recipes and traditions at every table this year. Depending on where you live or travel to for Thanksgiving, you may also enjoy regional variations in menu items. For example, a southern table wouldn’t be complete without homemade macaroni and cheese, and it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving in certain coastal regions without oyster dressing. You may find families with children fighting for the wishbone, while other families argue over the right way to carve the turkey. Whichever way you slice it or serve it, the majority of Americans are simply thankful to enjoy an array of wonderful food with their family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Eat, Heal, Travel! What kinds of unique dishes will be on your Thanksgiving table this year? Be sure to let us know via Twitter or Facebook.