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| Aubrey's home in Milford |
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| LaFoy Cottage on Pocahontas Point-Lake West Okoboji |
MEMORY LANE
THANKSGIVING
BY R. AUBREY LA FOY
Several years ago we were in Canada when they celebrated their Thanksgiving. We were accused of planning it that way but we pleaded ignorance as we didn’t know it was their Thanksgiving. Each year we were invited to attend a Thanksgiving dinner with relatives and it was super. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberries and pumpkin pie. The meals were great and they made us feel right at home. The Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. In other parts of the world, different cultures also celebrate festivals of thanksgiving. Although they are quite different than the American or Canadian holiday, they all resolve around giving thanks for life’s blessings and celebration of the autumn harvest.
When I was a kid we had Thanksgiving the last Thursday in November but in 1941 President Roosevelt signed the bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Because two years out of every seven have five Thursdays in November, some states still celebrated on their own on the last Thursday. Roosevelt tried, without success to move it even further back under pressure by department stores to allow more time for Christmas shopping. This effort did not meet with general approval so he moved to the fourth Thursday in November. Since 1956, the fourth Thursday in November has been observed by every state.
The Pilgrim’s first harvest feast in 1621 has become a model for thanksgiving celebration in the United States. It was probably held outside based on the fact the colonists didn’t have a building large enough to accommodate all the people who came. Native Americans out numbered the Pilgrims. Edward Winslow (leader of the colony) wrote: “King Massasoit, with ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer.” The initial “Thanksgiving” feast was really a traditional English harvest celebration. The Pilgrims shared it with the Native Americans because they had taught the colonists to plant crops and hunt wild game. Without the Native Americans, the Pilgrims may not have survived the harsh winter and been able to celebrate their first harvest of plentiful crops in the New World.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was a terrible as they lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Pilgrims. The others on board were hired to protect the interest of the London stock company who financed the journey.
Modern Thanksgiving staples such as pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, corn and mashed potatoes were not served at the Thanksgiving feast of 1621. No menu was written down but historians believe that seafood and wild game were the main dishes at the feast. Seasonal vegetables such as squash may have been part of the harvest feast but vegetables didn’t play an important part of the Pilgrim’s diet as they do today. Spices, Dutch cheese, wild grapes, lobster, cod, native melons, pumpkins and rabbit plus wild fowl, turkeys and Indian corn were the staples of the meal. Sweet deserts also did not accompany the meal due to the lack of sugar and without ovens it was impossible for the Pilgrims to make breads, pies and cakes.
Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become the model for Thanksgiving celebration in the United States. October of 1777 marked the first time all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration as it commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789 but Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of Thanksgiving so the idea sort of died out. It wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. After Lincoln every president proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.
What wasn’t on the Pilgrims’ menu? Ham: There is no evidence the colonists had butchered a pig for the occasion although they had brought pigs with them from England. Sweet potatoes/potatoes were not common. No corn on the cob as it was dried out at that time of the year. No pumpkin pie but maybe stewed pumpkins. The Pilgrims had cranberries but no sugar and no milk as there were no cows brought over, maybe goat’s milk and very few eggs as they had brought over only a few and probably not many laying eggs as yet.
I wont’ even get in the way the Pilgrims dressed. We think of them in black and white garments with the men wearing “funny” hats and what pageant would not be deemed a success unless little Johnny was not carrying a blunderbuss gun. But we still like to think of them so the kids can put on their Thanksgiving performances. Legends and traditions are tough to break. I recall a person I met one time who said, “I don’t care how many facts you present to me you will never change my mind.” I think that is the way we are with Thanksgiving, all the facts in the world won’t change our minds about the traditional Thanksgiving meal or how the Pilgrims dressed.
Thanksgiving is a time for family traditions and although Connie and I are far away from our families we still have a traditional Thanksgiving. We usually have turkey but lately Connie has found a very nice Butterball chicken that is just as good. I don’t recall ever having turkey for Thanksgiving until I was in the military. At our home we usually had ham, chicken and pheasant but always mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pickles, corn, beans, dressing and pumpkin pie.
I have had many Thanksgiving meals and most of them seem to merge into a pattern and but a few are memorable. I recall a great Thanksgiving dinner we had at my mother’s parent’s home when I was just a kid, probably in fourth grade. It was probably the last time all my grandparent’s children and grandchildren got together. All of my aunts, uncles and cousins were in attendance making about 30 people in all. My grandparents still cooked on an old iron range so it was quite a task to prepare that much food. Salads, vegetables, pickles, bread and jelly were brought to the house and seating was a real problem. The large oak dining table was filled with extra boards and card tables were set up to accommodate everybody. The kitchen was filled with women cooking and serving. When all were seated, prayers were said. The thing I remember most was that the dishes of food kept passing and I wondered when we were going to eat. It was quite a gathering, never to be repeated as unfortunately as the family scattered soon after that moving to other towns. It was a time one wished there had been a movie taken for future generations but not it is only in the minds of those who attended and few of them are still around.
For many years we had our Thanksgiving celebrations at the old cottage on Pocahontas Point, Lake West Okoboji. We moved there 1971 and each year had our three boys and their families attend. We usually had Connie’s mother, three of my aunts and several times invited single people to join us. After a scrumptious meal our boys and I would find a pond or lake frozen over and ice-boat. There was nothing better than to come back to the cottage after a vigorous sail and have leftovers. I still hate to go out to eat on Thanksgiving because we don’t have any leftovers. Even when the boys came back home for Thanksgiving I wanted to go out to a restaurant in order to save Connie from all the work. When I broached that question our boy’s reactions sort of gave us the impression that was not such a good idea. “No leftovers,” was their comments.”
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the many favors and rewards we have living in the USA. The day should be what the word says “Give Thanks” for our family and friends. We should pray to God and thank him for his benevolent bountiful blessings upon us.
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