Text, five big questions about thanksgiving

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This article was prepared in consultation with Darius Coombs, Director of Wampanoag and Eastern Woodlands Performance Research and Interpretive Training at Plimoth Patuxet, Plymouth, MA.

5 Big Questions About Thanksgiving

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag gathered together to celebrate a successful harvest. Here’s how that feast inspired one of our favorite holidays.

November 17, 2020

1) Was the 1621 feast just like Thanksgiving today?

Not exactly. For one thing, it lasted three days. And at least 90 Wampanoag and 50 Pilgrims took part. That’s probably a lot more people than you'll have at your holiday table!

They likely ate turkey, but the Wampanoag also brought deer meat to the feast. Experts say the menu also included fish, lobster—and eels! But back then, there wasn’t any cranberry sauce and, sadly, no pumpkin pie for dessert.

Illustration by Mark Fredrickson

Nearly all of what we know about the 1621 feast comes from a letter written by one of the Pilgrims and the journal of William Bradford, Plymouth’s governor.

2) But it was the first official Thanksgiving, right?

Not even close. The Wampanoag had already been giving thanks for successful harvests for centuries. Europeans had similar celebrations too.

The people at the 1621 feast weren’t trying to start a new tradition. That’s why some experts refer to it as “the harvest celebration in 1621” rather than “the first Thanksgiving.” It would be more than 200 years before anyone began to think of this feast as the inspiration for the holiday.

3) Is there anything else we get wrong about the Pilgrims?

Illustration by James Shepherd

Well, they didn’t call themselves Pilgrims. That term didn’t become popular until the 1800s. They also didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. The group first arrived on Cape Cod, across a bay from Plymouth. When they did get to Plymouth, it’s unlikely that anyone actually set foot on the rock.

They didn't wear black-and-white outfits. They dressed in many colors—and didn’t have buckles on their hats.

4) Let’s get back to Thanksgiving. When did it become an actual holiday?

Kim Reinick/Shutterstock.com

In the 1800s, a writer named Sarah Josepha Hale published essays and wrote letters to convince lawmakers to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Her plan worked. In November 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November an official holiday in the U.S.

5) So how did Thanksgiving become the start of the holiday season?

You can thank the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for that! It started in 1924 as a way to promote the store’s Christmas sales. Over time, people thought of Thanksgiving as the start of the holiday shopping season.

In 1939, business owners convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November, making the shopping season longer. But that led to confusion, as many people had made plans to celebrate a week later. In 1941, Congress moved it to the fourth Thursday in November.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

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