A 19th Century New England Thanksgiving by Eileen O'Finlan

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Thanksgiving figures heavily in my forthcoming novel, Erin's Children, sequel to Kelegeen. Why Thanksgiving? Why not Christmas? Erin's Children is set in Massachusetts in the 1850s. Thanksgiving was the quintessential New England holiday at that time. Sure folks had started celebrating Christmas to a degree, but it was nothing in comparison to the grandest holiday of all – Thanksgiving.

It was English Puritans who came to Massachusetts in the early 1600s bringing with them a great distaste for anything that smacked of the Church in Rome which meant December 25^th was just another day on the calendar. Anyone caught celebrating Christmas could find themselves in trouble with the law. But Thanksgiving? That was a different story.

Though Puritanism had died out by the 1850s some of the Puritans' ways remained. It wasn't until the American Civil War in the 1860s and beyond that Christmas gained the foothold that would eventually catapult the holiday into the commercialized juggernaut of today. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, took pride of place in the hearts of New Englanders.

As most know, the “First Thanksgiving” took place in 1621 in Plymouth Colony with the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians sharing an autumnal harvest feast. For the following two centuries days of Thanksgiving were celebrated at various times by several of the colonies. It wasn't until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be held every November that it became uniform. Still, by the 1850s the holiday was pretty well set as a tradition, even to the point of always being observed on a Thursday in November. Lincoln just made it official.

Thanksgiving was a huge celebration which entailed a tremendous amount of work. Imagine the work of preparing for Thanksgiving today and multiply it by at least ten. A fresh turkey had to be purchased before dawn on Thanksgiving morning, scalded in boiling water to loosen the feathers, then plucked. The bird was beheaded, gutted, then roasted all day. As if turkey wasn't enough, a couple of chickens were often included. Mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and a multitude of pies, most of them baked weeks in advance and kept frozen in a closed off section of the house, rounded out the feast. Just thinking about the preparation and clean up makes me exhausted.

Often families traveled to spend the day – or if they traveled any real distance, several days or even a few weeks – with relatives. Or, they may have been the hosts, as are the Claprood family in Erin's Children, with relatives coming to stay with them. Not only was there the big Thanksgiving meal to prepare and enjoy, but other frolics that went on for days. In Erin's Children, Mrs. Claprood's brother and his family join them for a week at Thanksgiving. The young people are especially jolly, celebrating with sleigh rides and a taffy pull during the days following the big feast.

Here is a short snippet of the taffy pull scene in Erin's Children:

The scents of hot chocolate and taffy lured Oliver and Benjamin into the kitchen with Nancy and Ethan right behind.

“You've come at a good time,” Deborah announced. “We're ready to pull!”

Kathleen placed the baking pan on the table while Meg set the crock of butter beside it. Once each had thoroughly buttered their hands, they lifted the thickened mixture, each grabbing hold of a section. Meg and Kathleen watched as the young people stretched and pulled the taffy, then folded it in on itself to stretch and pull again. Laughter filled the room as they set themselves up in teams to see who could stretch it furthest. The combination of slippery butter and sticky molasses mixture made for plenty of adventures and a few mishaps.

“Don't you want to pull, too?” Alice asked Meg and Kathleen.

The sisters looked at each other. The thought had not crossed their minds.

“Try.” Pamela encouraged them.

Kathleen's wistful expression decided it for Meg. She held out the crock of butter to her sister who eagerly greased her hands. She and Kathleen each held an end of the taffy and began pulling. To Meg's surprise, the odd mixture of slippery and sticky along with the sweet aroma appealed. She and Kathleen were soon laughing along with the others. For a few moments she felt part of the family. When their stretch of taffy broke, the end snapping back to curl around Meg's hands, she and Kathleen dissolved in gales of laughter.

Available for Purchase on December 1, 2020