I
I
:
Holiday
fact,
.fiction
There are so many myths associated with Thanksgiving, it's impossible
to name them all.
Why? I can't say for certain, but
probably, it's because Thanksgiving is
an invented tradition and doesn't
originate with anyone specific event.
The Thanksgiving we celebrate today
is in reality an amalgam of myth, tradition and legend. Here are a few of
them:
Thanksgiving wasn't always cele- .
brated on the fourth Thursday of
. November. The first Thanksgiving
occurred sometime between Sept. 21
and Nov. 11. Unlike our modern hol"'
iday, the first Thanksgiving feast was
three days long. It wasn't until 1863
that
President Lincoln
proclaimed a
MY VIEW
national day
to
express
thanks
for
the
many
blessings
.
enjoyed
by
Americans .
In
1939,
during
the
Great
Depression,
BUTCH
President
MAZZUCA
Roosevelt
changed
Lincoln's
chosen date
to the secondto
to
last Thursday
of November
extend the post-Thanksgiving, preChristmas shopping season. The
move was met with confusion and
criticism, and in 1942, FDR signed a
law making Thanksgiving the fourth
Thursday of November. The law still is
in effect today.
At the Berkeley Plantation in Virginia, there are those who believe the
first Thanksgiving was held on Dec. 4,
1619, a full two years before the Pilgrims' festival. These folks also tell us
it's not the Mayflower we should
remember but rather the Margaret,
the little ship that brought 38 English
settlers to that plantation in 1619. Few
outside Virginia know about this
Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, in 1963,
President John Kennedy officially recognized the VIrginians' claim.
Without access to the Pilgrims'
carte du jour at that first Thanksgiving, it's almost certain they didn't eat
turkey. Nor did they have corn on the
cob, mashed potatoes, cranberries or
Pepperidge Farm stuffing. The only
foods we know they had for sure were
venison and wild fowl.
Did the Pilgrims really land at Ply':
mouth Rock? According to historian
George Willison, who devoted his life
to the subject, the story about Plymouth Rock is a fabrication. WIllison
believed it was a public relations
stunt pulled off by townsfolk to attract
attention. What Willison discovered
was that the Plymouth Rock legend
rests entirely on the dubious testimony of 95-year-old Thomas Faunce,
who told the story more than a centu-·
.ry after the Mayflower landed.
Not many people know the origins
: of the Plymouth Rock story. At the
·end of World War II, Willison wrote a
book on the topic. But with millions
Mazzuca, page A6
COMMENTARY
Pi!@"Puri
,grnns,
MAZZUCA
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Were the Pilgrims and Puritans the
same? Reagan got this one wrong when
he referred to Puritan John Winthrop as
of servicemen returning after the war and a Pilgrim. Pilgrims and Puritans were
being reintegrated into the economy, two entirely different groups. The PilAmericans had more on their minds than grims came over on the Mayflower and
Pilgrims.
lived in Plymouth. The Puritans arrived
So is it distinctly possible that we've a decade later and settled in Boston.
gone merrily along these many years Most Pilgrims came to America in search
repeating the same old story as if it were of riches. By contrast, the Puritans came
true.
to America strictly in search of religious
Regardless of the story's veracity, the freedom.
That we confuse Pilgrims and Puritans
people of Plymouth stick by hoary tradi'tion, while local tour guides insist that Ply- ' would have horrified both. Puritans conmouth Rock is THE rock.
sidered the Pilgrims incurable utopians. '
Question: Why did the Pilgrims dress in While both shared the belief that the
Church of England had become corrupt, '
black? Answer: While it's certainlypossible some Pilgrims preferred dark, drab' only the Pilgrims believed it was beyond
clothing, the reality is that most Pilgrims redemption.
Thanksgiving carri~s with it different
favored bright colors.
.. There's much evidence indicating that meanings for different people. But the
the Pilgrims wore green, red, yellow, violet common thread is that Thanksgiving is a
and blue garments, along "vith the more day we set aside to give thanks for blesscommon white, gray and brmvn. And they ings both known and unknown.
If anyone living in this country can
didn't wear those funny buckles, weird
think of nothing to be thankful for today,
shoes or black steeple hats, either.
Plymouth Plantation historian James W. well, I suspect he or she has a very poor
Baker explains that in the 19th century, memory ..
,
Quote of the Day: "Not what we say
when the popular image of the Pilgrims
was formed, buckles, 'dark colors and about. our' blessings but how we use
steeple hats served as an emblem of them that is the true measure of our
quaintness. That's the saine reason illus- thanksgiving:' - W.T.Purkiser
trators give Santa Claus a buckle. Even the
blunderbuss, with which Pilgrims are Butch Mazzuca is a business consultant and
identified, is more a symbol of quaintness. writes weekly for the Vail Daily. He can be
reached at [email protected].
•
than a firearm with actual utility.
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