You can't think of Thanksgiving without also envisioning a roasted turkey. In many homes, it's pretty much a holiday centerpiece at the table—a rather pretty sight before everyone's forks and knives begin to dig in! Afterward, bellies everywhere are filled with the best leftover turkey recipes for days upon end. Nothing sounds better, really. In fact, for some people, it's more of a "must-have" rather than a "want," though, who doesn't want a hearty turkey? This does beg the question: Why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
A turkey-less holiday might sound unfathomable to some people, which means there has to be *some* reason it has become the main ingredient in those annual turkey recipes. Turns out, there is one! Read on for a brief history lesson on turkeys and their everlasting importance on the Thanksgiving holiday.
When did turkeys become popular?
Believe it or not... there is actually no mention whatsoever of turkeys when reading archives of the "first Thanksgiving" between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people. Yes, they did indeed have a dinner (of course!), but it's not known and potentially unlikely that turkey was served on that day.
The popularization of serving turkeys with meals started at some point in the 19th century, and this was due to a variety of reasons. For one, turkeys were... everywhere! According to Brittanica, there were "at least 10 million turkeys in America at the time of European contact." That's a whole lot of birds for one species. 😅 The abundance of turkeys during this time made them a good source for everyday meals—especially given their size, which could easily feed an entire family (for days, too).
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Still, while an extremely popular source of food, this wasn't enough to make turkeys the unofficial Thanksgiving mascot. What led to where we are today is slightly debated, but there are quite a few good, informational takes.
Some people credit Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843) with creating the "turkey on Thanksgiving" sentiment, because that's what the characters in this story ate. That's a cute idea! Though, some people are more in tune with crediting the historic author, Sarah Josepha Hale for the turkey movement. She published a novel in 1827 named Northwood, where there was chapter all about Thanksgiving in New England. The meals that she described all had turkey in them. While the turkey in itself was not a main point of her book, her campaigns to get Thanksgiving to become an official holiday were. So, when it did finally become a proclaimed U.S. holiday in 1863 under the power of President Abraham Lincoln, the country saw turkey served as the main dish in the first official dinner.
Today, turkeys are practically the symbol of Thanksgiving!
Josiah is the Digital Content Producer for the commerce team at Popular Mechanics, Best Products, Runner’s World, and Bicycling Magazine. He also writes for “BIO Buys”—a column on Biography.com—giving readers the lowdown on what products their favorite celebs are using. In another life, Josiah was an editor at ThePioneerWoman.com, where he sharpened his expertise on all things lifestyle, food-news, and entertainment. Outside work related matters, he’s a fan of Studio Ghibli films, unimportant reality TV drama, and melancholy Lorde songs.
