Date: Fri 20-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

turkey-Thanksgiving-Sturbridge

Full Text:

Why Turkey? Old Sturbridge Serves Up Some Answers

STURBRIDGE, MASS. -- For many of us, Thanksgiving just would not be

Thanksgiving without The Bird.

All over America, with turkey as the centerpiece, families will once again

gather around the dining room table next Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving

with many of the same foods as New England farm families did in the 1700s and

1800s. But why turkey?

It's not because a large bird has always been relatively inexpensive or easy

to prepare. And it's not because turkeys were once wild and plentiful.

"People often see wild turkeys today and assume turkeys were roaming through

backyards in the early 1800s, but they weren't," says Debra Friedman, a

history interpreter and program assistant for food ways at Old Sturbridge

Village, the fully re-created early 19th Century New England village in

southern Massachusetts.

"You would very often buy your turkey from a drover. Then came butchering,

plucking, singeing and gutting. It was a lot of work for very little meat,"

said Ms Friedman. Most turkeys weighed eight, nine or ten pounds. They could

cost as much as 10 to 15 cents a pound, so that the price of a ten-pound bird

would be the equivalent of a day's wages or more for most 1830s families.

"It's only in the last 50 years that turkey, and even chicken, have become

inexpensive foods," Ms Friedman said.

"Over time, we lose perspective by forgetting why these foods used to be

special. In the past, turkey was a special dish because it was expensive and

required a lot of labor to prepare," said Ms Friedman.

In the 1830s, turkey itself was often augmented by chicken pie, mincemeat pie,

or boiled stuffed chicken. Then, as now, a variety of vegetables, side dishes

-- and of course, pies -- rounded out the meal.

Thanksgiving also meant fancier cooking than at other times of the year.

"Women might make rolls instead of bread, mashed potatoes instead of boiled

potatoes," said Ms Friedman. "Creamed onions were a lot of work -- peeling all

those small onions. Turnip sauce -- turnip with equal parts of potatoes,

butter and cream -- was special," she said.

Baking ingredients were also special. Weeks before the holiday, children would

be set to work grinding spices, stoning raisins and pounding sugar. Women

might splurge on white sugar, lemons, brandies and more expensive, refined

white flour. Mince meat, plum puddings and pies would be made ahead of time,

often by the dozens.

Visitors to Old Sturbridge Village are often surprised to learn that

Thanksgiving did not become a national holiday until 1863, during the Civil

War.

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular magazine Godey's Lady's Book , waged

a long campaign for Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Her advocacy and the

need to find some "good news" during wartime convinced President Abraham

Lincoln to proclaim a national Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November

1863, a time Ms Hale had recommended as one when "the agricultural labors of

the year are generally completed."

Previously, the date of the holiday varied from year to year and state to

state.

Every fall, the governor of each state would choose a date and issue his own

proclamation, which was printed, published in newspapers, and usually read

aloud at worship services. By then, of course, most families had already begun

their preparations -- they knew it would be scheduled for a Thursday in late

November or early December.

In New England, Thanksgiving was also the most popular time to get married.

Rural weddings in the 1830s still followed seasonal rhythms, and most couples

exchanged vows either in the early spring or waited until after the harvests.

With families already gathered together, Thanksgiving was a favorite time

chosen by brides, who were usually married at home.

Thanksgiving also meant back to school for children. With the harvest

complete, most children began school again the day after Thanksgiving and

attended through March.

With the world around us changing at such a rapid pace, it is reassuring to

think of how our Thanksgiving traditions of family, friends and feasting so

closely resemble celebrations held by our great-great-grandparents more than

100 years ago. While preparing today's abundant holiday table is no doubt

easier with electric food processors, microwave ovens and dishwashers, most

Thanksgiving traditions have changed little over time.

"All over America, we eat the same kinds of foods and follow many of the same

family rituals New England farm families did in the 1700s and 1800s," said

Jack Larkin, chief historian at Old Sturbridge Village.

However, Mr Larkin and the living history museum offer some lesser-known facts

and interesting history about this great American holiday, including the

custom of eating with a knife on this holiday (...just be sure to tell your

family you are following a 19th Century custom).

According to American etiquette of the 1830s, guests showed good table manners

by tucking their napkin under their chin and eating with their knife.

Also, women were expected to carve the turkey so that the feast would go

smoothly. Sarah Josepha Hale reminded ladies "especially to make carving a

study and...perform the task allotted to them to prevent remark."

Our current custom of assigning this task to the head of the household came

later, as did the then-outlandish European notion of "feeding oneself with a

fork."