Turkey Day

Traditions of the Season....
By Martha Rogers

Thanksgiving finally became a national holiday declared by President  Abraham Lincoln following a letter-writing campaign by Sarah Hale, magazine editor of Gody’s. She advocated a holiday that would promote family togetherness and thankfulness. Prior to that, the holiday was celebrated sporadically even after George Washington declared a national day of thanksgiving and praise for December 18, 1877.

Traditional 19th century family dinner. 

The only time Thanksgiving was changed from the last Thursday of November to the next-to-last was in 1939 when President Roosevelt extended the date to give more time for Christmas shopping. That didn’t last long as the outraged public protested and legislation was passed in 1941 making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November.

Traditions surrounding Thanksgiving revolved mostly around what the families of the day established in various regions of the nation although the purpose remained the same. The accounts of the first Thanksgiving in 1621 were

recorded by William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation and Edward Winslow. They celebrated with a feast featuring the bounty of their harvest for the year. Thus, food became more associated with Thanksgiving than other things except being thankful for the harvest. Jennie Auguste Brownscombe rendition in oil is seen here.

We're not sure when cranberries officially became a Thanksgiving meal fixture, however The New Jersey Star-Ledger wrote, “Cranberries officially became a part of the national Thanksgiving tradition in 1864, when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered cranberries be served to soldiers as part of their holiday meal.” Whether it was widely used before that remains a mystery.

Football rivalries took began in the late 19^th century in Massachusetts with games played on Thanksgiving Day, and professional football took root on the day in the 1890’s. When the practice died out for colleges and high schools, the professionals took over. And we thought football games on Thanksgiving were a modern day phenomena.

In New York City, early parades were held with people dressed up in fanciful masks and costumes. They roamed the streets in small mobs making merry for the day. That morphed into what became known as ragamuffin parades of

children dresses as “ragamuffins” in old mismatched clothes and smudged faces. That tradtion morphed into what is now known as the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” watched by millions on TV.

The turkey became the traditional meat as Victorian women were positive that is

what the Pilgrims had served. The custom of snapping the “wish bone” in two after dinner came to us from the English, who got it from the Romans. Apparently early Etruscans thought chickens were oracles, so they used the birds in an attempt to predict the future. After a chicken was killed, it was laid out to dry so that citizens still had access to its alleged powers. The wishbone was then picked up, stroked and revered; people allegedly made wishes on it, hence giving it its current name of wishbone. This was then carried over to turkey as well. Instead of stroking the bone, two people now wish on it then snap it. Whoever gets the longer end receives his or her wish.

Sweet potatoes came to us by way of the slave trade from the West Indies. The slaves used sugar-cane boiled down into molasses and poured it over the raw sweet potatoes. The heat of the boiling sugar was so hot that it cooked the potatoes as it cooled. Thus the source of candied sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.

The slave population gave the South cornbread as well and became a staple in making a stuffing for the turkey. Pecan pie joined pumpkin pie as the traditional dessert because of an abundance of the nuts in the South.

Whatever foods are served or activities are observed, Thanksgiving is a family holiday. Artists like Norman Rockwell preserved that ideal with his paintings.

 It’s a time when families gather to offer thanks for the blessings of the past year. Even if the day has to be a day early or late because of family commitments, it is still a day of giving thanks.  

Our family has its own traditions and even those changed as our children grew older and married. My grandmother’s recipe for cornbread dressing for the turkey is still served, and I’ve taught our middle daughter-in-law to make it so the tradition will be passed on to the next generation. I also use my grandmother’s Southern Pecan Pie recipe and a variation of her cranberry congealed salad. 

What are some of the traditions of your family at Thanksgiving? Answer below and be sure to leave your email address for a chance to win your choice of a copy of my Christmas book Christmas at Holly Hill or a digital copy of Christmas Blessing from the Mail Order Christmas Angels collection.

It is October 1898, and Clayton Barlow has just returned home after serving time in prison for his part in a bank robbery. His family welcomes him, but the townspeople are skeptical. Bored with life in the small town but determined to make a new start, he goes to work with his father, hoping to regain the town’s trust.   

Clayton recognizes the schoolteacher at the Prairie Grove School as his childhood friend, Merry Lee Warner, and old feelings surface. Still, he doubts that he could ever get a woman like Merry to love him.  

As the townspeople prepare for Christmas, their suspicions about Clayton lead to trouble. Will the trusting heart of an unlikely new friend be enough to restore Clayton’s relationships with his neighbors and reunite him with God and Merry?

Annelle Pugh is the daughter caretaker of her retired sea captain father who is in poor health. As she approaches age thirty, he smothers any of her attempts at a social life, and Nelle becomes discouraged and fearful she’ll never have a home of her own.  While her aunt is visiting and taking of the Captain, Nelle grabs the chance to go west and become one of the Mail Order Angels requested by a group of men in Wyoming. Riley Thornton is a rancher mourning the death of his wife and desperately needs someone to care for his three children. After several nanny attempts fail, Riley signs up for one of the Angel Brides who consented to come to Wyoming. Riley almost backs out when he sees how petite Nelle is and doubts she’ll be able to handle two growing daughters and a barely walking son as well as take care of the cooking and cleaning. Despite her doubts, Nelle begins to love Riley, but at every turn her fear of being sent back East keeps her from letting her feelings be known. As they work together, Riley comes to realize Nelle is special and truly his blessing from God at Christmas. 

Martha Rogers is a free-lance writer and writes a weekly devotional for ACFW. Martha and her husband Rex live in Houston where they enjoy spending time with their grandchildren.  A former English and Home Economics teacher, Martha loves to cook and experimenting with recipes and loves scrapbooking when she has time. She has written three series, Winds Across the Prairie and Seasons of the Heart and The Homeward Journey. Her new contemporary series, Love in the Bayou City of Houston and novella, Christmas Blessing are now available on Amazon.  

Find Martha at:  www.marthawrogers.com