Written by Jack Rasmussen, American Author and Actor
Jack Rasmussen is a leader in the worlds of performance science, the food industry, religion, education, and entertainment. Growing up in Silicon Valley and studying Business, Cinema, and Journalism at the University of Southern California has allowed him to explore creative pathways to raise people's vibration and meta-awareness within their respective fields.
In America, we have a Thanksgiving holiday on the last Thursday of November. Many people start playing Christmas music after Halloween and begin the celebration preparation for the December holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, overlooking November’s beautiful prelude tease: Turkey Day. Of course, we love Santa in America, and many count down the days until his presence down the chimney. We even have thirty cities in the United States (with at least 1,000 people) beginning with “Santa,” with Santa Ana (my current home) being the most populous (World Population Review). However, the anticipation of gifts under the tree may cause us to forget to celebrate and cherish the gratitude that Thanksgiving grounds us in.
Thanksgiving backstory
Turkey Day is a national holiday first celebrated as a special event by pilgrims or the original settlers of New England (Plymouth County) who came over from Europe (after trying to settle in Amsterdam and Leiden) on the Mayflower in September 1620. The Pilgrims, a group of radical Puritans labeled the English Separatist Church, were also known as the Pilgrim Fathers. Initially set to land near the Hudson River, the three-masted merchant ship landed in Cape Cod after a 65-day voyage, finally stopping in Provincetown Harbor in November 1620. Because of the unplanned land in Massachusetts, 41 men had to sign the Mayflower Compact on November 11, 1620, to appease non-separatist “strangers.” This was the first document that established government in the New World (History.com Editors, 2023). The historical significance of the Thanksgiving celebration comes from honoring the restored hope established by the pilgrims.
The first Thanksgiving celebration occurred in the autumn of 1621, between September 21st and November 9th (Perry, 1990). Almost a year after the Pilgrims settled, 90 Wampanoag and 52 English people attended the celebratory dinner in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to commemorate a successful harvest. November 2021 marked the 400th anniversary of what is now known as “The First Thanksgiving.” Unfortunately, this peaceful exchange between the pilgrims and Native Americans was not permanent. War would erupt, and the Wampanoag would lose much of their land to European colonization. It is important to remember that although Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate the beginnings of the American government, not all groups benefitted (National Archives).
Please and thank you
Thanksgiving today may have a weak connection to the Plymouth story, as that was just the start. Thanksgiving began as a regional observance in New England, prompting residents to fast and reflect rather than feast. Magazine Editor Sarah Josepha Hale lobbied for the day to become a national holiday. President Abraham Lincoln solidified Thanksgiving’s place in history by delivering a poignant Thanksgiving Day proclamation on October 3, 1863, during the bitter tensions of the Civil War, demanding Americans to “observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving.” Because Thursday was the month’s final day in 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday in 1939 to elongate the holiday shopping season amid continued economic recovery from the Great Depression. After many states refused, Congress passed a 1941 law establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving for good (National Archives).
Mood for food
But what about the menu? Thanksgiving is like a palate teaser about a month before the December holidays and the new year ahead. It is not all cookies and milk as Santa would approve of, but it is a hearty spread of American classics.
In 1621, with the help of the Wampanoag Native Americans, the pilgrims’ dishes consisted of venison, wildfowl (turkeys and ducks), fish, and cornmeal. In the 19th century, tables featured chicken pies, geese, ducklings, and three types of red meat next to turkey, plum puddings, custards, and various pastries. Turkey became the centerpiece and face of the Thanksgiving table mainly due to culinary nationalism—the native bird brought pride to American families’ holiday feasts. Even Mark Twain details missing American food while in Europe in his 1878 book called A Tramp Abroad. He lists around 75 American specialties, including “Roast turkey, Thanksgiving style. Cranberries, celery.” Cranberry was strongly associated with turkey in New England as early as 1663. Throughout the nineteenth century, cookbooks recommended serving turkey with cranberry sauce, jelly, or punch (Perry, 1990).
In the 1650s, New England settlers preferred apple, pear, and quince pies, but the 18th century brought on “plain fare,” and American pies like pumpkin joined the mix. New England’s original Thanksgiving menu has influenced many food lovers in the United States, with turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie as holiday grub essentials (Perry, 1990).
Of course, every part of the country adds its cultural flair to the national feast, adding oysters, gumbo, pasta, or enchiladas to the menu, for example. California, born and raised, I usually eat turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, butter rolls, stuffing, creamed spinach, candied yams, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, Dutch apple pie, banana cream pie, along with homemade whipped cream. Rather traditional and vanilla, but staying honest, as Abe would appreciate. The other 363 days besides Thanksgiving and Christmas are for international and exotic flavors like jerk chicken, curry goat, or rum cake.
Jack Rasmussen, American Author and Actor
Jack Rasmussen is a leader in the worlds of performance science, the food industry, religion, education, and entertainment. Growing up in Silicon Valley and studying Business, Cinema, and Journalism at the University of Southern California has allowed him to explore creative pathways to raise people's vibration and meta-awareness within their respective fields. He is the award-winning author of Fine Dining: The Secrets Behind the Restaurant Industry (2022) and Yin Yang: The Elusive Symbol That Explains the World (2023). He has worked with the National Science Foundation, California food banks, and international directors to help alleviate food waste and teach cultural literacy, among other expressions of his storytelling interests. He wants to continue to help serve and inspire global citizens to explore the unexplored and become more cognizant of and comfortable with their authentic presence through sharing his own. His artistic aim stays true: spread thought-provoking peanut butter and connective jelly.
Works Cited:
History.com Editors. “The Pilgrims ‑ America, Definition & Land.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 27 June 2023,
Perry, Charles. “How Did Thanksgiving Get to Be Turkey Day? : History: The All-American Feast Took Its Time Becoming the Holiday We All Celebrate Today.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Nov. 1990,
“Thanksgiving: Historical Perspectives.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
“US Cities Starting with SANTA.” US Cities Starting with Santa, World Population Review, 2024,
