Five Myths about Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the Red Headed Step Child of the Holiday Season. At most department stores the Christmas decorations are going up before they even have the Halloween stuff in the clearance section. thanksgiving just gets lost in the transition. It hasn't always been that way but at this rate Thanksgiving will only be around for a few more years. Here are some myths about Thanksgiving and the facts.

Myth number 1: Pilgrims started Thanksgiving

Nope. 100% untrue. Pilgrims were too busy building houses and fending off wild animals and killing the natives to have any kind of celebration! Thanksgiving started with the celebration of the arrival of Spanish explorer Juan de Onate landed in Texas near El Paso on the banks of the Rio Grande. It was more than two decades before the Pilgrims had their first Thanksgiving celebration.

Myth number 2: Thanksgiving is all about Family

Yeah right. The only Holiday where more people get arrested in a domestic dispute is Christmas! Thanksgiving was set up for communities to come together to celebrate the harvest. This gave people that would not normally have a chance to get together to meet. A lot of times it was more of a traders market with an evening feast.

Myth number 3: Thanksgiving was about religion

If by religion you mean thanking your lucky starts that that drought or too much rains or fires or animals didn't destroy your crops! Religion did not play a roll in thanksgiving back in the 1500's in early America. Like I mentioned earlier it was more about community and less about church.

Myth number 4: Thanksgiving is all about the Turkey

Alright, today it is called Turkey Day but back in the 1500's it was more "the kill of the day" not necessarily Turkey. Most animals start rutting when it gets cooler. You were as likely to have a deer on the plate as a Turkey back then. It wasn't until 1863, when Abe Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national Holiday. With a national Holiday you need a national emblem to make it official. The Victorians decided on a Turkey and Turkey-Day was born.

Myth number 5: Pilgrims wore Black and White clothes with funny hats and over sized Buckles on Everything

Yeah, right, traipsing around in the woods you always want to wear something white! And while you are at it wear thew most expensive and uncommon dye color you can get! This depiction of the style of the day is more of an artists rendering and interpretation. In reality, the pilgrims probably wore a lot of earth tones and clothing that would make work easier. Yes, they were prim and proper when they went to church (which was more likely a monthly event than a weekly event) but they worked from daylight to dark. They got dirty, and bathing had not been invented yet.

That is my take. Got any more myths about Thanksgiving you'd like for me to tell you the truth about? Leave me a comment and I will see what I can do. Say, do you know how to keep a turkey in suspense? I'll tell you tomorrow.