Marina Gaytan / The Collegian

A plump roasted turkey; savory ham; rich, creamy mashed potatoes; thick, golden gravy; sweet, delicious candied sweet potatoes; succulent stuffing; these dishes have become traditional fare for the gluttonous holiday, Thanksgiving.

While many have come to know, and salivate over, the food that makes up the customary Thanksgiving menu, the meal has evolved from the feast considered to be the origin of the holiday.

History
Many believe the first Thanksgiving occurred in 1621 when the pilgrims invited the Wampanoag Indians to a feast. However, many reports indicate the pilgrims did not observe this feast as Thanksgiving. The meal was a celebration for the remaining colonists who survived the first winter in the New World after they arrived in Plymouth, Mass. It highlighted the bountiful fall harvest the Wampanoag Indians helped the pilgrims grow and took place around Sept. 29, not on the fourth Thursday of November.

The celebration in 1621 was actually a traditional English harvest festival, which usually occurred sometime between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11. The feast lasted three days and was a mixture of food, dance and song. The pilgrims did not see this celebration as Thanksgiving, which was revered at the time as a religious holiday to give thanks to God for their blessings. The first feast did not mark the beginning of the annual Thanksgiving tradition since the Pilgrims did not celebrate it the next year or the year after.

Marina Gaytan / The Collegian

It was not considered a national holiday until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln announced the last Thursday of November to be observed as Thanksgiving. Every president thereafter proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the final Thursday of November, occurring on the occasional fifth Thursday of the month. During the Great Depression, retailers urged the government to change the holiday to a set date to prevent it from shortening the Christmas shopping season, which usually is marked as the “Black Fridayâ€Â after Thanksgiving.

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the holiday as the fourth Thursday in November. Congress approved it in 1941.

Traditional Dishes
The feast considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving looked quite different from the meal that graces many American̢۪s tables today.

The dishes present at the 1621 feast are largely unknown by historians, except for the presence of wild fowl and venison which were accounted for from primary sources. According to the History Channel̢۪s Web site, historians believe the meal had plenty of meat, including lobster, goose, duck, partridge and seal.

It̢۪s quite unlike the traditional Thanksgiving menu Americans know today which still incorporates turkey as the main dish, but also includes ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, and other delectable sweets.

The once religious affair is now a secular holiday that is entrenched in family tradition and good eats.

Thanksgiving Facts
̢ۢIn 2008, a whopping 1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes were produced in the main U.S. states that harvest sweet potatoes. North Carolina was the top state to produce sweet potatoes, accounting for 874 million pounds followed by California with 437 million pounds.

̢ۢThe results from a recent Dunkin̢۪ Donuts survey found that 58 percent of adults in the U.S. celebrating Thanksgiving will take a nap sometime during the holiday.

̢ۢThe average American consumes between 2,400 and 4,000 calories on Thanksgiving and gains an average of four to seven pounds from now until New Years.

•The largest turkey in the Guinness World Records weighed in at 86 pounds. The turkey was raised by Philip Cook from the United Kingdom and won the last annual “heaviest turkeyâ€Â competition. This event took place in London on Dec. 12, 1989, and was auctioned for charity for a record £4400 ($6,692).