What Not to Wear: Thanksgiving Edition

In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday in October. Notice that I didn’t say, “Canadian Thanksgiving” because we don’t think of it that way. In Canada it is simply, “Thanksgiving,” just as here in the US the holiday is not usually called, “American Thanksgiving.” However, for the purposes of this essay, I will refer to Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving just to distinguish the fine points.

Occasionally, when I mention Canadian Thanksgiving to American folks, the second most frequent question I am asked after, “Why is it in October?” is, “Does it have anything to do with Pilgrims and Indians?  “Not so much,” is my standard reply, “It’s about the harvest.”

Two or three years ago while I was visiting my hometown of Winnipeg in early October, I came across some Thanksgiving decorations in a home store that included a lawn ornament that looked a bit like this:

 “Really!?!” I thought, almost verbalizing this aloud but, as I am still young enough that I can prevent myself from muttering in store aisles; it was merely a contained, mental anguish. “There are no pilgrims in Canadian Thanksgiving!” I thought, “Typically Canadian! We adopt American symbols without even batting an eye!”

I hadn’t thought about this misappropriation of American iconography again until this week when a neighbor asked me if Canadian Thanksgiving traditions are similar to those in the US. I could tell him the few facts that I knew, but I had to consult that wellspring of wisdom and knowledge, Wikipedia, for the rest. Here are some fun facts:

·         Canada beats the US on the thanksgiving timeline by 43 years. English explorer, Martin Frobisher landed in Newfoundland in 1578 after an attempt to find the Northwest Passage. He declared a feast of thanksgiving should take place wherein his crew thanked God for helping them land safely after their encounters with Arctic ice had nearly dashed their fleet. This is the first documented Canadian declaration of, “Damn, it’s cold!”

·         Next up were the first settlers who came with Samuel de Champlain to New France, i.e. Quebec, i.e. the beginnings of Canada, circa 1608. Their autumn celebrations took the form of a feast to thank the Almighty for good harvests and prosperity in the new land. They formed the “Order of Good Cheer” and shared their food with their First Nations neighbors.

·         Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, a small community of pilgrims landed in the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Some of them managed to survive their first year and paused sometime in the autumn of 1621 to be grateful and share a bounty of food with the native inhabitants that had helped them make it through.

Hey, wait a minute! That’s when it occurred to me that the Habitants in Quebec and the Colonists in Massachusetts had a lot in common. Both groups, pretty much at the same time, looking for a better life in a new land. Both could certainly be defined as pilgrims. So then, I wondered if our popularized image of “pilgrims” rang true or could possibly be the same in both countries. Why not? Maybe those lawn ornaments weren't so far off the mark! So I consulted the internet once more looking for the fashions of the day.

You know the typically depicted pilgrim wearing black and white clothing with those huge collars and that tall men’s hat with the buckle? Wrong! Research reveals that the buckle didn’t come into fashion until 100 years after the first American Thanksgiving. And apparently black was not a color worn very much by anyone in those days.

 

 This is an incorrect image!

Plimouth (sic) Plantation is the official historic site on the Massachusetts coast that interprets the life of the colonists who arrived on the Mayflower. Here is how they dress their costumed interpreters:

 

The Canadian Museum of Civilization web site led me to artistic renderings of the first immigrants to New France:

 

 

Look at that! They are pretty, similar, eh? Turns out my righteous indignation about lawn ornaments was out of line! Canada could well claim the pilgrim couple I saw in the home store!

Let’s get back to the timeline for a sec:

·         After the American Revolution, United Empire Loyalists who left the US to live in Canada brought their thanksgiving traditions of eating turkey, squash and pumpkin with them.

·         During the Civil War, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.

·         In Canada, the first Thanksgiving Day after Confederation (1867) was observed as a civic holiday in April, 1872. From 1879, Thanksgiving has been celebrated annually.

·         It wasn’t until January, 1957 that the Canadian government proclaimed: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.”

So there you have it. Two countries hosting immigrants from across the seas; both groups thankful for the bounty of the land.

Today, there are more commonalities than differences, despite the disparate dates on the calendar. Gathering with friends and family to give praise. Turkey served with a medley of fall vegetables. Even football on TV. Except, Canada has three downs. Other than that, you tell me what’s so different between Americans and Canadians! Kind of heart-warming isn’t it?

Only, forget that bogus belt buckle on the hat!