From the days of the Pilgrims Harvest Festival to today's modern celebrations, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated throughout America each year.
Thanksgiving became a National Holiday in 1863 when President Lincoln issued a proclamation. But actually, it wasn't until 1941 that Thanksgiving officially had the set date as the fourth Thursday in November. President Roosevelt officially changed the date of Thanksgiving in 1941 to be the second-to-last Thursday in November.
Thanksgiving Menus
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| Source: Pixabay |
The First Thanksgiving was actually a Harvest festival held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. It was to celebrate a successful growing season and the menu included all the fresh vegetables harvested at that time.
History tells us that the menu included freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl (including wild turkey), fish, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge. The harvest vegetables included onions, peas, beans, squash, cabbage and carrots.
*Note: Not served were potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet corn or stuffing.
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| Source: Pixabay |
Today, our modern Thanksgiving menu traditionally consists of turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, cranberry sauce, rolls, and pie. Although, many dishes are ever-changing because of current food trends and different dietary requirements.
A Thanksgiving Menu from World War II Days
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| Photo By: Army Staff Sgt. Caitlyn Byrne |
A "Thanksgiving Dinner Menu," dated Nov. 26, 1942, included roast young turkey, chicken a la princess, cranberry sauce, oyster dressing, Russian salad, mixed candy, assorted nuts, pumpkin pie, cigars, cigarettes and café noir.
The menu even included a poem for inspiration:
"This is the table, lads, grab you a seat,
Thanksgiving this year is Uncle Sam's treat;
The café noir
Is not rationed by far
And neither, my lads, is the meat!
So eat!"
Summary
Favorite Thanksgiving traditions, menus and recipes are shared by many of the contributors on Review This Reviews in a number of interesting and delicious reviews. Click here for a fun list of articles and recipes to read.
Happy Thanksgiving!
