Wild Turkey was supposed to mean the whiskey!

Wild Turkey, not wild turkey!

Here it comes... the day we look forward to all year... Thanksgiving!

It all began when the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in search of religious freedom. There was little food their first winter since most of the seeds that survived the trip from England, didn’t take to the American soil. Many of the settlers died that first winter. But in the spring, Squanto, a native, walked out of the woods and into their settlement speaking fluent English! He had been taken to England as a slave years earlier and returned to America by Monks who taught him to speak english. Talk about your lucky break!!! It makes you wonder about Divine intervention..... If Squanto hadn’t shown up to teach them what to grow and how to prepare it, the colony likely would have failed and history might have been very different.

The first Thanksgiving records they had “goose, codfish, lobster and wild turkey”. When I read that, I wondered.... if lobster and goose were on the first menu, shouldn’t we stick with tradition? The Wild Turkey obviously referred to the whiskey and not some bird because you already had the poultry dish covered with the goose. Besides, you have to have something to drink in that cold weather, but who made the mistake of thinking they meant the bird and not the whiskey?

There have been other mistakes associated with Thanksgiving as well. In 1934, the Detroit Lions thought it would be fun to have a football game every Thanksgiving. Bad idea. In 1966 the Dallas Cowboys played the first Thanksgiving Day football game on TV and that was the last year that men sat at the dining room table with the family for Thanksgiving. This led to the rapid development of the TV tray table and nachos and noshes before the game.

Today, the men come to the table for the presentation of the bird. Someone says an awkward blessing and you can just tell that the men are controlling themselves long enough to get a plate and head back into to living room, leaving the women to create a meaningful event with the children while football blares in the background.

Sometimes there’s a delay in their plans if they have a man carving the turkey who wants to slice it nicely. Sometimes there is a delay because of the ‘passing of the carving knife’ ritual where a young man goes through the rite of passage of being given the privilege of carving the bird. This is always fun to watch. The poor guy gets instructions from four men at the table simultaneously telling him their method. No matter what he tries, it’s a hack job. Still, the men are glad it’s over so they can fill that plate and leave.

I know there are men who don’t watch football. Who stay and the table and help with gravy dripping on little chins. At least, I believe there are men like that. I’m sure I read it somewhere....

But that’s the real reason to have Wild Turkey with the wild turkey. While the men are whoopin’ and hollerin’ in the living room, the Mom’s can discreetly knock back a few, and then the urge to throw the turkey through the TV screen eases. The desire to pulverize the remote with a potato masher subsides. The silly urge to see the men interact in a sensitive and meaningful way with the kids for three consecutive hours dissipates.

Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of the magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book in the 1800’s lobbied for forty years for a national day of thanks. She is the one to be credited with the creation of Thanksgiving as we know it today. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln decreed that America would observe “a national day of thanks for all the bounty America has been given”.

OUR NATIONAL THANKSGIVING BLESSING
by Sarah Josepha Hale 1853

"All the blessings of the fields,
All the stores the garden yields,
All the plenty summer pours,
Autumn's rich, o'erflowing stores,
Peace, prosperity and health,
Private bliss and public wealth,
Knowledge with its gladdening streams,
Pure religion's holier beams --
Lord, for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise."

Mrs. Hale’s blessing is the best Thanksgiving blessing I ever read. I am adding it to be read at out table starting this year. God Bless You and have a wonderful day!