It’s no secret that the tradition of Thanksgiving dates to colonial times. In fact, the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621 during a three-day harvest festival. But did you know turkey was not served?
There was plenty of venison, duck, geese and even some seafood, as well as corn and other vegetables harvested. While there likely were pumpkins, there was no pumpkin pie — imagine that!
The gathering included 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians and was to celebrate the colonists’ first successful harvest in the New World. It did not take place again until 1863, when Sarah Josepha Hale convinced President Abraham Lincoln to bring back the celebration to unite the country in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Still, it wasn’t until 1941 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
President Harry S. Truman was the first to receive a ceremonial turkey from the National Turkey Federation — it ended up on the menu. It was John F. Kennedy who was first to let the turkey go. Richard Nixon sent his turkey to a petting zoo. But it wasn’t until 1989 that George H.W. Bush formalized the turkey pardoning tradition.
Visit pbs.org/newshour/show/the-history-of-the-presidential-turkey-pardon