Turkey has been the centerpiece in a Thanksgiving dinner for years. According to some writings, turkey was first introduced to early Pilgrim settlers by Native American Wampanoag around 1600. They celebrated the so-called “The First Thanksgiving” in 1621 and feasted on waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, squash and turkey.
But did you know that nobody really knows if turkey was served on that Thanksgiving Day? Only in 1800’s that Turkey became the staple food of every Thanksgiving dinner. The 1621 feast wasn’t also the start of the traditional holiday meal since there was another feast held in the colony in 1623 and later on different colonies celebrated their own Thanksgiving days during the year.
Eating Turkey became popular when Sarah Josepha Hale, a popular magazine editor and the author of the classic nursery rhyme “Mary Had A Little Lamb read about the 1621 feast and decided it as a model for an annual holiday meal. She then began publishing recipes for turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie. She even tirelessly petitioned for national Thanksgiving Day close to 40 years. Hale believed that like the 4th of July, Thanksgiving should be considered as a national holiday and be observed by all Americans.
Thanksgiving was first officially celebrated in November 26, 1789 Thursday as declared by President George Washington. President Abraham Lincoln then changed it and declared in 1863 that the fourth Thursday of November is the Thanksgiving Day.
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