How did the turkey become the traditional main course at thanksgiving?
823587
i think Wise 1 should get the best answer. he explained it really well. i honestly don't know what the answer is to your question but i liked his answer the best
865543
When I was around 11 or 12, my aunt volunteered to cook a turkey (her first whole bird) which is not really a Caribbean thing.  To make a long story short, she was so proud of showing off the bird, that it took THREE tries to cut it.  The second try, my cousin and uncle used a brand new electric knife which it shorted out and made the house lights blink.  Then, the hostess brought in a machete (and an army of three) to finally cut the poor thing.  My aunt was embarrassed every Thanksgiving for about 4 to 5years after the incident.  Now,  she's the champ! (And yes, it is a very true story!)
899612
good question, when you get the answer, please share. I think the first Thanksgiving they probably had wild turkey, and deer and duck. God bless****
696823
It used to be the Cowboys and Redskins on thanksgiving because its a big rivalry and cause of the thanksgiving theme.  However now it's about ratings and being in a big market since its a nationally televised game to attract ratings that day.  Thats the biggest reasons for that.
822652
Thanksgiving's at my family's old house used to be crazy.  Family members from all over the US would gather in the small farmhouse, cooking dinner, playing football, and reminicse by the fire.  I remember fondly a Thanksgiving eight years ago.  I was stuffing the turkey and my mom was making pumpkin pie.  We didn't have a mixer, so she took out the blender and said "Yeah, you blend" I told her she was crazy and went back to fixing the turkey. My cousin walked in on my mom trying to make pumpkin pie in the blender and said "Ohh la la", out of suprise.  She looked at me with a serious look on her face "Lets sit in front of the fireplace" she said.  Just then, the lights suddently went out.  The phone rang.  It was my cousins. Due to the massive storm that had hit the area, they wouldn't be able to make it. "Bill Bailey won't you please come home", my mom jokingly told my cousins on the phone.  I heard my aunt screaming from the other room at my six year old cousin " you are not going to watch tv as we eat dinner." He responded by having a temper tantrum because he didn't understand power outage.\n\nDespite the power outage, the stove was gas so we were able to have a beautiful candlelight feast without the tv on or cousins watching tv.
986261
Fun turkey facts: http://home.aristotle.net/thanksgiving/turkey-index.asp\n\nRegular Thanksgiving facts: http://familyinternet.about.com/od/thanksgiving/a/thanksgivingfac.htm\n\nList of Thanksgiving weblinks: http://www.familycorner.com/dir/Family/Holidays/Thanksgiving/Web_Links/
875692
The common idea is that Thanksgiving originated with the Pilgrims. Most Americans have this idea that when the Pilgrims landed in America and settled themselves they wanted to give thanks and appreciation for making it through the long journey. Also, they ended up sharing their feast with the Native Americans. Or did they? \n\nThe fact is that the first Thanksgiving was shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in 1621. The celebration was more of a harvest festival with sports, games, food, dancing, singing, and revelry. When it comes to the food they ate the menu wasnt much like todays. Instead, it consisted of venison, fowl, and other foods prepared by the pilgrims. \n\nInterestingly enough the first Thanksgiving as we know it did not create a yearly tradition among the pilgrims. Partly because the following year was a poor one and because many new settlers had arrived, Thanksgiving became a celebration that was only observed occasionally over the following centuries. However, thanks to the Revolutionary War all of America celebrated Thanksgiving together in 1777. But, that still didnt get the tradition going like it is today. It wasnt until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving that the tradition really became part of Americas culture. The only other change was when Franklin Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday in 1939. \n\nOf course, you may have learned a different Thanksgiving story in school or you may be one who believes Thanksgiving as a celebration shared by the Indians and the Pilgrims took part in their celebration. There is no shortage of ideas about how Thanksgiving originated. However, the above account is one that is traditionally accepted by Americans and the one that most people tend to believe.
181
It is believed that the pilgrims and indians shared wild turkey and venison on the original Thanksgiving. \n\nTurkey's "Americanness" was established by Benjamin Franklin, who had advocated for the turkey, not the bald eagle, becoming the national bird.
909177
I don't believe the Philippines could celebrate a "Thanksgiving" like the US.  If I remember correctly, Thanksgiving is a declared Holiday to commemorate the feast and celebration between the early pilgrims or explorers of North America and the native Indians that were originally here.  It wouldn't make sense for the Philippines to copy that Holiday as well unless there was ever a similar feast or celebration recorded in Philippines history.
708332
Turkey(baked)\nTurkey(cajun)\nHam\nDuck\nSquash\nMac and cheese\nBroc and cheese rice\nGreen beans\nDressing(kind of like stuffing) w/giblet gravy on the side\nSome type of greens(collard or mustard)\nblack eyed peas(sometimes)\nlima beans\nspuds\nrolls\npies(sweet potatoe,coconut)\ncheese cake\nand then usually everyone brings a "NEW" dish\nsomething we haven't had for Thanksgiving before...\nI'm sure I'm leaving something out.... but yeah....oh Yams
835958
Yes, anything that would go with turkey. My father always preferred duck to turkey, so that's the Thanksgiving meal I grew up with.
816990
It was the first Thanksgiving after my husband and I started dating.  He drove three hours to spend the holiday weekend with me so I wanted to impress him with a home cooked meal.  I waited until leaving work Wednesday night to go the the grocery store and in the mad push of people, I reached in the bin and grabbed a turkey.  The next afternoon, I placed my turkey in a sink full of water to thaw and began on my side dishes.  After he arrived and we had a drink, he ventured into the kitchen at which point I noticed he was peering down into the sink and frowning.  I asked if something was wrong with the turkey and he said "Yeah . . . it's a duck."  \n\nTo my horror, I had picked up a duck and never noticed that this long narrow bird was not a fat round turkey.  I attempted to roast it and while it had a nice flavor, we quickly realized there isn't much meat on a duck.  In addition, my gravy was burnt, my potatoes were salty and the macaroni and cheese was a solid block.  I finally accepted defeat and we ventured out to the local 7-Eleven and had a Thanksgiving hot dog!   \n\nI wouldn't have done a thing to prevent it!!  That night my husband told me he loved me for the first time and we have been together for over twelve years.  He turned out to be an incredible cook and  I have never cooked another Thanksgiving dinner!  And every year we toast our famous Thanksgiving duck!
898542
Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November.  While Thanksgiving itself is a single day, the holiday always includes the following Friday, making for a four-day weekend.  \n\nThe holiday originated, according to legend, with the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1620s.  Their first winter was terribly hard, and they suffered greatly due to ignorance of the climate, soil and local growing and hunting conditions.  According to the myth, they made friends with the local native American tribes, who taught them how to recognize local fruits, vegetables and game, including pumpkins, maize, cranberries, and turkey.\n\nAt the end of the next harvest, the colonists proclaimed a great feast of thanksgiving and honored the native American tribes that had helped them survive the previous winter.  It is still celebrated as a day to give thanks for the good things that have happened during the preceding year.\n\nIn practice, Thanksgiving is a huge feast including a number of foods native to North America -- roast turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and others.  This feast is always eaten on Thursday, though the leftovers can last, depending on the size of the household, for weeks.  \n\nIn recent years, Thanksgiving has also marked the start, in earnest, of the Christmas merchandising season.  The Macy's department store has, since the 1930s, sponsored a Thanksgiving Day parade in New York, with large inflated characters interspersed among marching bands and civic groups.  The Friday after Thanksgiving has become known as "Black Friday" and is typically the single largest retail sales day in the United States.  \n\nIn reaction to what many people see as the overcommercialization of this holiday (not to mention modern life in general), recent years have seen a growth in Buy Nothing Day, a movement to reverse the hype and mania for rabid consumption that Thanksgiving has come to represent (particularly in its "gateway holiday" role as the opening of the Christmas bacchanalia).  Originating in Canada, Buy Nothing day has come to signify a "detox" from the incessant drone of marketing, merchandising and status.  \n\nSpeaking of Canada, there is also a Thanksgiving in Canada, but it's celebrated on the second Monday in October, making for a three-day weekend.  Both the Canadian and the US Thanksgiving days are believed to be derived from the British Harvest Festivals, held at the end of summer since ancient times.\n\nYou can read more in the Wikipedia article I posted below, and also in the Adbusters Web site on Buy Nothing Day.
784305
The original Thanksgiving story is about illegal immigrants who squatted on native American lands, sorta like modern Jews in Palestine or like undocumented Mexican workers in the United States today. Little conflicts arose, arms were taken up, hostilities grew, a clash of cultures and conscience brewed.  And, then, hunger set in.  The pilgrims were ignorant, uneducated religious fanatics who had fled oppression and religious tyranny in their homelands.  Their way was paid for by greedy businessmen who shipped them off beyond the edge of the earth in hopes that they would plunder the fabled gold in the the legendary new world. The pilgrims were fodder.  No one really cared about them.  They did not arrive well-supplied.  They did not have time to grow enough food for the winter. They were going to die. One day, the young "savages" of the new world decided to be humans. And, the pilgrims decided to be humans.  And, they put down their weapons, set aside their fears and hatred, and chose to be friends. The natives brought food for the starving pilgrims.  And, they shared a meal together in friendship. That's the Thanksgiving story.
733457
Thanksgiving was instituted by the pilgrim who came over on the Mayflower.\nHistorytelevison has an article  on it, but they apparently have myths associated with it. I didn't read it all, but it came up when I "yahooed" thanksgiving and found the enclosed reference below.
766808
Turkey winds up with a vegeterian family, he is the guest of honor now build up to that by having the turkey worry the whole time he is the main course
734467
It is a object used to stuff a food like pork chicken, but most commenly a turkey.