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Have you ever wondered where we get the tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving? I have. I decided to do a little research and see what I could find.

Apparently no one truly knows when the first Thanksgiving was. There has been rumored to have been several before the famous ‘plymouth rock’. Anyway..to the turkey…

Tradition holds that the Plymouth colonists invited ninety guests to feast with them . The exact food prepared that day is still unknown. It’s suspected that the meal included: venison, wild turkey, wild fowl, bass, cod, and Indian corn or maize. Thanksgiving became official in the mid 1800’s and was confined to mostly rural England. New England homes were known for the bountiful meals they prepared. Women would make pies weeks in advance and men spent the mornings hunting or shooting turkeys. The largest turkey’s were chosen for the holiday feast. Meals lasted for hours and people were expected to eat more than their fill. Seemingly, one would think this is where the tradition of the turkey came in but surprisingly this is not the case. The turkey actually didn’t make its first formal appearance as a national thanksgiving staple until after World War II! The poultry industry introduced the heavily marketed hybrid turkey, a larger bird, which then in turn became a symbol of American abundance.

Interesting isn’t it..

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