Holiday Redux
Thanksgiving (November 26th)
The Real First Thanksgiving -- a Call From the Line Judges Puh-lease!
Very interesting -- this started as a quick and dirty fact check on the Mayflower (the ship, not the Madam), Plymouth Rock, who supped with whom, when -- and, of course, what they ate. But, lo and behold, the story of the very first Thanksgiving seems to be up for grabs!
An 11/25/08 New York Times op-ed piece states that the record is as clear as your fine holiday crystal: In June of 1564, long before the Pilgrims set sail in 1620, a group of French Calvinists (aka Huguenots) escaping religious discord touched down near Jacksonville, FL -- and held a service of thanksgiving tout de suite! But a year later, King Philip II of Spain dispatched Admiral Pedro Menendez to annihilate these squatters on Spanish territory, which he did with relish -- and we're not talking cranberry. Mission accomplished -- and with that, all trace of these pre-Pilgrims was erased by Anglophile historians.
But the plot thickens like lumpy gravy ... an 11/27/07 USA Today article makes no mention of the fallen Huguenots but maintains that the celebratory meal with the local Timucuan Indians upon Menendez's arrival in St. Augustine, FL on September 8, 1565 marks the first Thanksgiving. Who to believe?
Either way, it appears that sunny Florida, home of VerveCards.com, was also the setting of the very first Thanksgiving. So, what did they wear -- ye olde flip-flops with brass buckles, Lilly Pulitzer pinafores and Tommy Bahama knickers? And what did they eat -- mahi-mahi and key lime pie? The answers are unclear, but according to USA Today, bean soup was the main event. So much for replicating an authentic first T-giving feast -- pass the pumpkin pie!
