What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Is it a time to gather with family and friends and stuff yourself with turkey, cranberry sauces, dressing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that, but there is much more to Thanksgiving history.

Thanksgiving comes from a great festival that the Pilgrims held to celebrate a plentiful harvest in the fall of 1621. However, Thanksgiving history actually starts with their reason for celebrating and goes back to when the Pilgrims landed in Cape Cod.

The Pilgrims sailed to the USA on the Mayflower in 1620 and set ground in Cape Cod. They were members of the English Separatist Church and came to America after initially fleeing to escape religious prosecution. There were 103 on board the ship and only 53 survived the long, bleak winter. So when they had a great bounty the following season, they were moved to celebrate and be thankful! In 1621, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians shared a feast to celebrate the plentiful bounty. This is known as the first Thanksgiving.

For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving wasn’t a yearly event held on the same day every year; it only occurred when there was reason to celebrate such as a plentiful harvest. The holiday didn’t continue on a yearly basis until many years later. In 1817, New York State proclaimed Thanksgiving as an annual custom and in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln officially sanctioned Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November and a legal holiday.

What was on the menu? Pilgrims didn’t even have forks; they used spoons, knives and their fingers. Though pumpkin pie is a modern day staple for Thanksgiving dinner, they didn’t have anything like that at the original feast. They most likely didn’t have anything sweet at all. Historians aren’t completely sure of everything that was on the menu, though they are sure of two items: venison and wild fowl.

It is thought that the pilgrims dressed in black clothing with big buckles, but that’s not true. The buckles didn’t come into style until the seventeenth century. Black and while was only worn on Sundays and for formal occasions. Women’s clothing was dyed with earthy colors such as greens, blues, browns, violets, grays and reds. The men wore clothes that were mostly earthy green, brown, black, white and beige.

Now, when you think of Thanksgiving I’m sure you’ll think of more than just turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie….you will also remember the Pilgrims who were so very appreciative for the plentiful harvest that they created the first Thanksgiving.