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Let’s talk turkey

By Joe Kleinsasser

If Ben Franklin had had his way, the turkey would not have wound up as the main course for Thanksgiving dinner, according to Mike Kelly, curator of special collections at Ablah Library.

Kelly says Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be the symbol for the United States instead of the bald eagle. Franklin saw the turkey as a noble, peace-loving native bird, while he viewed the bald eagle as a scavenger with a bad temperament.

The turkey is native to the Americas, says Kelly. Spanish explorers first brought turkeys back to Spain in the 16th century and the birds quickly spread throughout Europe. The name turkey came as a result of the Turkish traders bringing the bird to England in the 17th century. The English colonists were surprised to find wild turkeys in the New World when they arrived in 1607.

Your Thanksgiving turkey may be big, but it probably pales in comparison to the heaviest one ever raised — 86 pounds, about the size of a large German Shepherd.

Contrary to what we believe, turkey may not have been the main course at the pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving dinner in 1621, Kelly says. Lobster and venison were the prime dishes for the feast prepared by four English women and two teen-age girls. They prepared food for about 90 American Indians and 50 colonists. They didn’t have sugar, milk, cream, butter or cheese, but perhaps wild honey. They did have dried corn, pumpkins and various kinds of fish.

Until 1863, Thanksgiving Day had not been celebrated annually since the first feast in 1621. This changed in 1863 when Sarah Hale encouraged Abraham Lincoln to set aside the last Thursday in November “as a day for national thanksgiving, praise and prayer.” Thanksgiving has been observed as a national holiday ever since.

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