Behind the Scenes of Thanksgiving

Those who grow vegetables know about feasting after a good harvest which, of course, is where our Thanksgiving came from. But the practice goes back eons...

  • Topic: Fall Gardening
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: Thanksgiving, harvest, feast, grain, crops, Pilgrims
  • Date: November 2005

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Those who grow vegetables know about feasting after a good harvest which, of course, is where our Thanksgiving came from. But the practice goes back eons to the early Hebrews, Chinese, Greeks and Romans who all came up with their own version of the harvest feast. However, our holiday began with Lammas, a pagan festival from the 800s that celebrated grain.

Breads made from the season’s first crop were ritually offered to the gods of abundance. Lammas is an Old English word for “loaf mass” and its festivities took place the first of August. Then throughout the Middle Ages, bringing in the harvest also meant a big party to reward those that threshed the wheat, barley and oats.

When the Pilgrims survived their first winter here, Gov. William Bradford chose a date late the following year, when all the work would be done, to celebrate. Two years later, those same people were starving because of a drought and Bradford ordered fasting and prayers instead.

But in 1623 the rains returned and he again ordered a feast to take place. In 1636 he decided November 15 would be the day. For 150 years the harvest celebrations came and went in a hit-and-miss fashion. Until 1789.

George Washington wanted to commemorate the victory of the American Revolution, so that year he chose Nov. 16 as the day. But in 1795 he changed his mind and declared February 19 the national thanking holiday. But it didn’t take hold. By that time of year everyone was huddled around the hearth trying to keep warm.

Finally in 1840, activist Sarah Josepha Buel Hale began pressing for a common, national day of Thanksgiving. By 1852, 20 out of 31 states had agreed. Abraham Lincoln then solidified things when Hale suggested he proclaim a patriotic Thanksgiving Day in 1863. It was the last Thursday in November. And that’s where it stayed until 1941.

Businesses declared it was too close to Christmas, so President Roosevelt changed it through an Act of Congress to the fourth Thursday. And that’s where it’s stayed. Until someone decides to change it again.

Happy Thanksgiving.