Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-20
PUR|TANS INVENTED
THANKSGIVING DINNER
Turkey, Cranberry and Cape
Cod Oyster Graccd the Feast
Board Three Centuries Ago.

\. great wave of rel1ef mas recently
passed over New England and the entire
United States, n wave ot reliei, let II be
said at once, having nothing whatever to
do with the signing of the armistice, but
altogether to do with the forthcoming
traditional national peace council. the
Thanksgiving festival. Throughout nli
the wears that have elapsed SINCE the
promising summer that followed the first
dark and drcarv winter al plymouth
Colony somebody at some point between
bingham and PrOvincctown, has remarked
to somebody else that IT IS wonder now
the cranDerries have turned ont alter all
for it appears always to have been the
way Of cranbcrriCs To he hcklc and
hesitant. elusive and contrary, up 10
nearly the last moment, that lS 10 say
almost TO Thanksgiving Day, and then To
change their attitude completely, and AL
the moro pleasantly for having Kept every
body guessing.
II Is now nearly three hundred years
since the Thanksgiving dinner was invent
cd Somt Slvlt was suggested Y t'c wa
turkeys that flew IN rrcat ilocks IN The
autumn over Cape Cod: Tthcrs think that
II was suggested by the abundance oi
oysters 10 hc had for the gathering III the
Capc Cod covcs. but the great majority
of those who have discussed the subject
in All its phases, and from all ITS bearings
appear 10 nc convinced that the Thanks
giving dinner never would have been
Thought of nut for the discovery oi the
Cape Cod cranberry
ihc Wild turkey Of Care Cod was
NOISY luro lIc could he heard long hctore
he was seen and long after he had DIS
appeared Thercwcrc times they say, when
he appeared ~ ilocks :" large as to oh
Scurc the sun THIS IS told oi other Wild
fowl than the turkey m the early day ol
colonial settlement, So that there nuSt oc
eo,nctrt,th bchindit MI the old chrunlclcrs
tovc 10 dwell upon the marvellous game
bird niphts. and il Is acknowledged that
the most picturcquc and beautiful Of them
All were the flights of Wild turkeys. But
as already said the Wild turkey made
himself heard a+ we'll as seen.
The Capc Cod oyster. on the other hand.
was retiring. unohtr1siVr, dislnchncd 10
mt himself forward striving 70 outdo his
nclchn, and friend the Cane Cod qlahog
IN the matter uf attending to his own
business Md the cranberry later IL he
identified with tho social gayciicS ot
usually sohcr-mindcd people, was, 1t
ANYTHING more modest still. content 70
bc hidden from sight IN the depths OF the
Cp,,e Cnd .vamr-
\oho,ly can tell but anybody may
conjecture, how tho three were brought
together for the first tlmc Thanks
giving Day having been agreed 1pon
feature ~ the occasion came 10 br
THANKSGIVING dinner. then. naturally
turkey Was wanted AMI after this hlrl
raS caught 0ut az the skv there wa- need
81 something with which to stuff Il and
thcrc were thc oysters millions Of them;
ana thcn. something MAS needed ~ The
wav III side dish something ~ the na-
ilrc of I'M acid frult and - the men
folk were sent with dlShr~ OF pats INTO
IN, SwarnpS harciootcd and harcicgged,
~ I chilly November day q puck cram
hcrrIr- Then came the cooking. the
gathering 81 the family about the table.
thc taking Ill ol the stranger or way
farnr II :, heads bent IN devotion, the
claiter III knives forks and plates. re-
marks IA tho effect that the cranhrrrlcs
we're better than ever, and that was MI
there MAS 10 it. except the merriment
winch tvcn in those austerc tunes and
even in the most somhrr pcripd ot III
GRIM ana Puritan settlement, was seldom
altogether lacking
Few of the early customs originating
,yitb the English colonistS have clnng 80
tcnaciouslv or spread 81 widely rs that oi
THANKSGIVING For many wears Il was
confined altogether 10 the Old olony;
thcn i was adopted throughout Massa-
rIllsetts. gradually Il spread INTO the
oth.r New England colonies. then It
followed Ncu Englandcrs IN their western
micratlonS. finally il became national
festival The wild turkey has wel-nlght
vanished. but satisfactory substitute has
been found IN the tame turkey the oysters
are not an gathered on Cape Cod nor Is
the cranberry gathered any longer either
hv men with bare legs ar by men IN rub-
hrr boots. for the modern cranberry bed
NAV he as dry as a sItung-room floor, Ill
the picking season. But the last Thurs
dav IN November without cranberries,
in any part Of the country, would be no
dav at all
| To revert to the wave of rclIet. 1t was
| in the nature Of information 10 the effccH
| that Notwithstanding AL rumors and
reports to the contrary. there would bc
| plentiful supply OF cranberres tins year,
| and that the price would be one that the
! consumer could bear II would be a short
crop. compared with other years, because
| Of a June frost but this would be com
! Densated for by the fact that II could be
! gathered more leisnrely because of ITS
/ shortness, and at less cost for hired pick
ers
There will be enough cranberries to
make all the cranberry sauce the nation
viii need this Thanksgiving season; how
to provide all the essentials of the Thanks
giving Dinner OF year hence, when a
| large number of the soldier and sailor
bows will be back on the old homestead
/ again, will be more Of problem, but one
/ that will be met in due season.
/ Meanwhile. if the Thanksgiving DIN
ners Of this year are reduced 50 as to
permit the food administration to IN
! crease its European shipments 10 the
maximum before winter sets in, the grand
/ old custom Of New England. noH become
1 national, which knowingly permits no
/ one 10 60 hungry in the Thanksgiving SEA-
sop. will be more than ever pralseworthy
/ and deserving Of preservation. The CHRIS
/ tan Science Monitor.