As I am sitting here getting ready for my last class before I get to start my Thanksgiving holiday, I realized it was a good time to do a little turkey talking.
My daughter isn't a big fan of turkey, especially a whole roasted turkey, the typical Thanksgiving kind, so that got me to thinking about why we actually eat turkey on Thanksgiving. It's because that's what the Pilgrims ate at the first Thanksgiving right???? Umm, not necessarily.
Yeah, the Pilgrims might have eaten turkey then but it wasn't the only meat on the table. Meals in that time period were very meat-laden, lots of game birds, venison, rabbit. And of course the typical fall veggies we'll probably have on our tables tomorrow. To be honest with you, turkey probably wasn't their first choice anyway. A full-grown bird has approximately 3500 feathers. Imagine how long it would take to pluck a bird like that- wouldn't be worth it would it?
Decades on down the road, Benjamin Franklin decided that the turkey was "noble bird, a purely American animal." This didn't mean he wanted us hunting them down for our Thanksgiving meals; instead he wanted the turkey to be our national bird. Others didn't necessarily agree though. Yes it's a noble bird but rather than represent our country, it makes a much better meal.
So tomorrow, when you dive into that succulent, wonderfully roasted turkey, just remmember that Ben wouldn't be happy with you. But then again, Ben Franklin is the person who stuck his kid out in a lightning storm with a kite and a key- forget what he thinks. Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner!
He stuck his kid out there? I thought he was one with the kite.
ReplyDeleteNope, if you look at the drawings/paintings done about it, Ben is standing off to the side with his quill and pad of paper to take notes and a child is standing out in the grass, holding the kite. I've heard it said that the child was either his son Richard or a young black servant who worked in the Franklin home. If it was Richard, no wonder father and son had a horrible relationship later on. Gives new meaning to "The Little Bastard" discussion we had in class doesn't it?
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