A Victorian Thanksgiving
Victorians loved the holidays, they always went all out for their celebrations of Christmas and Thanksgiving. The Victorians loved nothing more and nothing was more dear to them than a traditional Thanksgiving feast, including turkey with all the trimmings. The tradition of serving a Thanksgiving turkey for the holiday began almost as soon as Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln way back in 1863.The major focal point was of course was the meal, which has pretty much stayed the same since the very first dinner. The woman of the house usually had to come to work together to take on the kitchen duties since it was a custom to let the help off on this day so they could spend with their family. The women would have planned a few weeks ahead to prepare, for example a mincemeat pie would have been made 3 - 4 weeks before the Holiday.The Victorians did not do much as for decoration, since the food was the major goal, some would pick corn and decorate the house with corn, kids would maybe draw pictures and hang them around.The menu of a traditional Victorian dinner would have consisted of: A Roast turkey, cranberry sauce, chicken salad, onions and potatoes, mincemeat pie and cider. As you see the menu over all the years has not really changed that much along with the giving of thanks for everything we have, and thanks for all the family we have to share it with.
