It Wasn't the Pilgrims Who Established Our Affinity for Turkey

Turkey at Thanksgiving is more of a 19th-century tradition
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 24, 2022 12:26 PM CST
It Wasn't the Pilgrims Who Established Our Affinity for Turkey
Frozen turkeys sit in a refrigerated case inside a grocery store in Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 2022.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

There's a 91% chance there will be turkey on your Thanksgiving table. But why? As Texas A&M history professor Troy Bickham explains at the Conversation, it's not just that it tastes good or even that we're mimicking the Pilgrims. Firstly, it's not clear that the Pilgrims ate turkey at the so-called first Thanksgiving, a harvest celebration with the Wampanoag tribe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. The only firsthand account mentions "fowle," which could refer to various wild birds, though other accounts of the time make clear that wild turkeys were in great supply. Rather, Bickham traces the popularization of turkey at Thanksgiving celebrations to 19th century writer Sarah Hale, who happened to boost another animal in penning "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Hale was also editor of the popular women's magazine Godey's Lady's Book. "Fiercely religious and family-focused, it crusaded for the creation of an annual national holiday of 'Thanksgiving and Praise' commemorating the Pilgrims' thanksgiving feast," with turkey at the center, Bickham writes. Though the Pilgrims and Wampanoag may have also dined on deer, lobster, clams, and possibly eels, per Smithsonian, Hale's fixation on turkey likely came from the bird's abundance. It may have also come from President Abraham Lincoln, who sat for an "unofficial Thanksgiving dinner that featured roast turkey, reportedly his favorite meal," in 1860, three years before he made Thanksgiving a national holiday, writes Debra Kelly at Mashed.

Four years later, organizations began collecting turkeys for soldiers so they, too, could have a proper Thanksgiving meal, Kelly notes. Kelly and Bickham argue Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, may have also played a role in bringing turkeys to our tables. It placed the bird at the center of "the prayerful family meal," Bickham writes. The fact that a roasted turkey makes a lovely centerpiece and is great for feeding a crowd probably helped the tradition stick, the pair note. "Since turkeys are big and one bird can feed a whole family, that makes it easier than sacrificing and cooking a dozen chickens," writes Kelly, adding a large part of Thanksgiving is "making sure there's plenty of meat on the table." (More turkey stories.)

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