Twas the week of Thanksgiving with folks on the go,
Except for a TV talking head saying oh no,
The election is lost, keep your loved ones away,
Let’s stop the insanity and enjoy the big day!
In last week’s Webb Weekly, my journalistic companion on the next page chose to forego a normal sports topic, instead opting to present a tongue-in-cheek parody of the recent election. Jamie’s utterings have warped my thoughts a bit as our family prepares for what Jean annually insists upon — the gathering of all at our East Central Avenue homestead for a day of food, fun, and family.
Harking upon Jamie’s comments, the election saw a huge voter turnout, and the people of this country did what the Pilgrims didn’t know what was to come but provided the impetus for — free people deciding who would lead them. The election is over.
During the height of the 1991 riots in Los Angeles, Rodney King made a public appeal for calm, asking, “People, I just want to say, can’t we all get along?” Those words ring out like Pulitzer Prize-winning statements when compared with the insidious rhetoric unleashed on a recent MSNBC telecast by Yale University psychiatrist Dr. Amanda Calhoun when discussing the Thanksgiving holiday.
“If you are going through a situation where you have family members or have close friends who you know have voted in ways that are against you, that are against your livelihood, then it’s completely fine to not be around those people, and to tell them why.”
It is a good thing those MSNBC cameras were not rolling back in 1621 when 53 Pilgrams and 90 Wampanoag Indians gathered to celebrate the fall harvest and give birth to that first Thanksgiving. Language barrier aside, it is doubtful there was 100% agreement on any issue of the day that may have been tossed about.
Around our Thanksgiving table, there will be political views from both sides, and there will even be voter abstention. However, as a suffering Dallas Cowboys fan, I may want to exercise Dr. Calhoun’s opinion and exclude the Eagles fans from consuming the goodies placed before us.
The Thanksgiving holiday is a unique American celebration. There are no gifts to buy, no religious observances, no tributes to patriots past, and no specific wardrobe adjustments — except to loosen belts when pulling away from the table to head to the TV football kick-off. It is just a family day to gather, eat, and enjoy, despite Dr. Calhoun’s dark forbearing.
Many myths surround the first Thanksgiving, and very little is actually known. What is known is that the Pilgrims held that first feast to celebrate a successful fall harvest sometime between September and November 1621. The 53 Pilgrims attending were the only colonists surviving from the original 102 who made the journey to America on the Mayflower. Perhaps it is fitting that Abraham Lincoln, who did so much to unify our country, was the president to declare Thanksgiving a holiday in 1863.
As you gather with your loved ones, below are a few surprising Thanksgiving facts to chew on:
1. Although ‘giving thanks’ has a spiritual ring to it, the first Thanksgiving wasn’t tied to any religious practices. For the starving Pilgrims, survival — not theology — was the main blessing on their minds.
2. In 1863, Sarah Josepha Hale — best known for writing Mary Had a Little Lamb — convinced Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a holiday.
3. Turkey likely wasn’t served in 1621. The meal probably featured wild game, along with nuts, cranberries, corn, and pumpkin. Modern staples like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy wouldn’t have been available.
4. The average American consumes a whopping 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day — enough to gain over a pound in a single meal.
5. Forget the Hollywood image of loincloths and feathers. Native Americans attending the first Thanksgiving lived in chilly New England and would have been dressed in practical weather-appropriate garments to stay warm.
6. Ben Franklin opposed the bald eagle as America’s national bird, deeming it a creature of “bad moral character.” He championed the turkey instead, calling it a “more respectable bird” and a “true native of America.”
7. The Pilgrims didn’t sport the iconic buckled hats we see as Thanksgiving imagery. Buckles didn’t become fashionable until the 18th century.
8. In 1953, Swanson overestimated how many turkeys it would sell for Thanksgiving, leaving 26 tons of leftovers. Instead of wasting them, the company created the first-ever TV dinners — proof that necessity really is the mother of invention.
9. In 1621, forks were a rarity reserved for European royalty. At the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Native Americans likely ate with spoons, knives, or even their hands. Plates and tables weren’t guaranteed either!
Lycoming County has long enjoyed, gathered, and celebrated the Thanksgiving tradition. But as the big day approaches for the Indian tribe in Muncy (named in honor of the Monsey Indians), the big feast is taking a back seat to the hoped-for gridiron glory awaiting its football team as they continue to seek Class A football hardware!
A very happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
