Fact or Fiction: Thanksgiving

Of the 50 Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the Fall of 1621, almost half of them were kids!

The Pilgrims invited the Native Americans, but they actually didn't expect 90 people to show up to their feast! However, they were happy to have them. The Indians stayed for three days. They helped provide more food by hunting.

The phrase “Thanksgiving Day” was first used officially after President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November a national holiday in 1863. 

Since they lived by the sea, there was plenty of seafood for them to eat. Lobster, bass, clams and oysters could have also been a part of their feast!

There were plenty of pumpkins to go around but they did not eat pumpkin pie for dessert. They had a pudding which was made of wheat, barley, fruit and other spices.

Although there were cranberries all over Plymouth, the Pilgrims didn’t know how to sweeten them! Later, they figured out how to make sauces and jams with cranberries.

Although turkey is one of the most common foods at Thanksgiving today, it is believed that they did not eat turkey on the First Thanksgiving. They were not as common back then as they are today. Instead of turkey, they ate a lot of deer.