North Little Rock e-Newsletter Provided by Diane Whitbey, City Clerk and Treasurer
November 2025
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? ter. While live cows and hens were useful as long as
they were producing milk and eggs, respectively, Written by John M. Cunningham turkeys were generally raised only for their meat and As celebrated in the United States, the holiday of Thanksgiving usually revolves around thus could be readily killed. Third, a single turkey a bountiful meal. Typical dishes include bread stuff- was usually big enough to feed a family. Nevertheless, turkeys were not yet synonymous ing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and, above all, turkey. How did turkey become the center- with Thanksgiving. Some people have credited Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843) piece of this feast? It is often assumed that today’s Thanksgiving menu with bolstering the idea of turkey as a holiday meal. But another writer, Sarah Josepha Hale, played an originated in an event commonly referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.” There is indeed evidence of a arguably more important role. In her 1827 novel Northwood, she devoted an entire chapter to a demeal shared between Pilgrim settlers at Plymouth scription of a New England Thanksgiving, with a colony (in what is now Massachusetts) and Wampanoag people in late 1621. But there is no roasted turkey “placed at the head of the table.” At about the same time, she also began campaigning to indication that turkey was served. For meat, the Wampanoag brought deer, and the Pilgrims provided establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the United States, which she believed would help unify wild “fowl.” Strictly speaking, that “fowl” could have been turkeys, which were native to the area, but the country as it teetered toward civil war. Her efforts finally paid off historians think it was in 1863 with a presiprobably ducks or dential proclamation geese. by Abraham Lincoln. What’s more, the As Thanksgiving Pilgrims do not apbecame an official pear to have considAmerican holiday, a ered this meal a milenational mythology stone worthy of speformed around it. An cial commemoration. 1841 collection of No 17th-century refPilgrim writing had erence to it exists bereferred to the meal yond a letter written described by Winsby Plymouth colonist low as “the first Edward Winslow. Thanksgiving.” Although Winslow didn’t specificalFor the Pilgrims, giving thanks for the autumn harly mention turkey, his fellow colonist William Bradvest wasn’t a new concept. As a tradition with roots in European harvest festivals and Christian religious ford did refer to a “great store of wild Turkies” at Plymouth that fall, in a journal that was reprinted in observances, “days of thanksgiving” were fairly 1856. Before long, the cultural links between Pilcommon among the colonists of New England. grims, turkeys, and Thanksgiving became an inextriThroughout America’s colonial era, communities held their own unofficial Thanks- cable and integral part of American schoolchildren’s giving celebrations, and few people associated them education. From a more practical perspective, turkey has also with the Plymouth settlers. remained relatively affordable. Although the wild By the turn of the 19th century, however, turkey turkey was considered endangered in the early 20th had become a popular dish to serve on such occacentury, its population once again stands in the milsions. There were a few reasons for this. First, the lions. In addition, modern breeding practices have bird was rather plentiful. One expert estimated that there were at least 10 million turkeys in America at helped make turkeys both larger and cheaper than ever, thus ensuring their continued place on the the time of European contact. Second, turkeys on a family farm were almost always available for slaugh- Thanksgiving table. “Where’s Mel”? Be the first person to call 501-975-8617 and tell us where you found Mel hiding and win!
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