Search all you like - in all the databases of William and Mary liraries, in the white-glove-only research rooms of Williamsburg's John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, in the 284-year-old Virginia Gazette, in Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's archives - and you shall find zip, zero, nul, no mention of an 18thC. Virginia Thanksgiving ... of pecan pie and Rosé on the fourth Thursday of November, anyhoo. Whilst there were certainly plenty of events worthy of giving thanks, the official, Autumnal holiday replete with too many cheesy potatoes, embarrassing family members and never enough wine, is absent of reference.

The days of literal thanks-giving in colonial Williamsburg, as well as the rest of the colonies, included harvest celebrations, sea voyage-returns, births, weddings and everything from military victories to summer rains relieving relentless droughts.

More unified days of thanks in pre-Revolutioary America commemorated the health of Britain's colonial monarchs: Queen Anne, King William & Queen Mary, all the Kings George and their beloved, bewigged and powdered queens ... and some of their doofier offspring. Even the prosaic occasions of procedure were cause for grace, in the event of a "happy agreement" between a sitting monarch and his or her Parliament.

Yet, amongst what might sound like a colony thanking ad nauseam, there is noted no commemoration of that world-famous Feast in the East: a buffet of berries, deer, fish, plums, pumpkins, oysters and clams shared with the indigenous Wampanoag Indians, mis-en-scène in November of 1621, on the briny, rusty-foliaged, seaside Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. The Motherland of all family-packed, American holidays, that first feasting-model on which all modern, family-packed, Thanksgiving gatherings are still imagined, has no place in early-Virginia history.

In fact, that first "Thanksgiving" was merely a New World adaptation of the English celebration of Harvest Home: ancient, farming revels dedicated to a healthy harvest and, like the Old World's Samhain, or Hallowe'en, an excellent excuse to drink, feast, dance, gambol, and probably gamble, before a wicked Winter had her way with you. Massachusetts' indigenous, Wampanoag Indians celebrated every Autumn, what they called, "a strawberry thanksgiving". Where there were farms, gardens and humans working those bits of land, there was some form of Harvest Home.

Over subsequent generations, as in Europe and Britain, the holiday found greater staying power and festivity in America's farming communities and hamlets, as opposed to the big cities of the original thirteen colonies. Regardless of city or hamlet, wealthy merchant or struggling laundress, life in the 17th and 18th Centuries was no Disney vacay; so occassions worthy of thanks, were oft documented.

Fortunately for us, in these contemporary, oh-so-soft-and-precious Disney years of America, we have libraries, archives and dbs chockablock with such documentation of grace, to give us a needed slap when we whine about the cost of Coppola Director's Cut Merlot, or how far we have to drive to Mom's house (an hour and forty-five minutes!!) to gather so much Christmas booty, it doesn't even fit in our 750Li ... where am I supposed to put all my gifts AND my luggage AND the dog carrier? Pilgrims, you don't even know the half of it.

At least the Virginia Pilgrims didn't have to worry about getting Xmas loot back to England in their surprisngly small, transatlantic ships. As early as December 4, 1619, one year prior to the Mayflower's Massachsetts landing, Captain John Woodleaf and a few dozen English settlers landed some twenty miles shy of Jamestowne Island, at Berkeley Hundred: an 8,000-acre land grant of the Virginia Company of London, awarded to Sir William Throckmorton, Sir George Yeardley, George Thorpe, Richard Berkeley and John Smyth in 1618. After ten weeks at sea, and upon landing on Virginia soil, naturally, Captain Woodleaf and his men, the legend goes, dropped to their knees and Woodleaf thanked God then and there in an impromptu, outdoor service for their safe arrival.

The official Charter of Berkeley Hundred states “We ordaine [sic] that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.” So, yeah. It was also a first Thanksgiving, sort of.

Two-hundred and forty-four years after Woodleaf and his crew landed on James River shores, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, amidst the horror of the Civil War, proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be honoured the last Thursday of November. For the next seventy-five years, all U.S. presidents followed suit. Then, FDR came along and, naturally, made some changes; it's what Democrats do.

In November of 1939, FDR noted there were five Thursdays in the month. He then extrapolated, with some nudging by national retailers, this meant Thanksgiving 1939 would fall on November 30th, leaving a mere twenty-four shopping days to Christmas. A nation still recovering from The Great Depression needed a little more shopping therapy than that and, lo and behold, his Thanksgiving Proclamation set the penultimate Thursday of the month, as opposed to the fourth, as Thanksgiving Day.

Of course, as folks were/are/will be wont to do, everybody bitched about this for reasons ranging from calendar reprinting to football game rescheduling to crying political foul; Republican opponents dubbed it "Franksgiving", until everyone got bored with that and figured there were worse things in life.

Since then, the day has stuck like Mom's cheesy potatoes to a wooden serving-spoon and we dare any sitting president, or governor, to even think about changing it back to a pre-FDR date ... or cancelling it ... especially any president, or governor, overseeing a pandemic, regardless of party. (Watchin' you ... )

This year, regardless of where and when you spend your Thanksgiving, North or South, Massachusetts or Virginia, whether you prefer Sam Adams or Southern Comfort, Nathaniel Hawthorne or Tennessee Williams, Bernie Sanders or Lindsay Graham, turkey or Tofurky, Washington or Dallas - No, I do not like football; yes, I am aware of what's happening; I am aware of most errrrvrything happening in pop culture - , we Americans can all agree 'tis a fabulous day to feast, imbibe, dress up, try to ignore annoying relatives, share good cheer with the ones we like, laugh until your jaw hurts, dress up and, oh, did I mention, dress up? Make an effort, kittens; don't be a schlub.

Most American of all though, is that which cuts across all political and socio-economic boundaries: TV! Be Thankful for TV! Let JennyPop show you the way of Autumn and Thanksgiving holiday viewing!

If you happen to be in Virginia, you'll find more than a few great venues for your own Thanksgiving, should you choose dining out this year, instead of going the home-cooking, or UberEats, route. No matter where you dine, there shall be no debate about this; a traditional, 17th or 18thC.  tavern meal is always a wonderful idea for the Holidays! If you've read my Savannah of Williamsburg novels, you will recall many a tavern scene; if you've not read them ... for what are you waiting?!

Below, enjoy a peek at the full menu for A Thanksgiving Dinner at The King's Arms tavern, along picturesque Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg. Best book now at any of CW's historic taverns! Can't do it this time? Book early for next year and make it a family plan! (Fellow vegetarians, take note: stick with the butternut squash dishes, any of the desserts, and off-menu items like peanut soup and cheese sippets, and copious amounts of Cabernet and Wampanoag cappuccino. You'll do fine!)

Happy Tofurkey Day, kittens!!

So, we all know travel is not as easy-peasy as usual, in 2020, anyhoo. Further, time travel is even more difficult ... but not altogether impossible, if you know the right tinkerers. (Dr. Michio Kaku might have some ideas.) There is one easy way to do both, though: reading! What's the best way to do both in Colonial Williamsburg? Reading JennyPop's very own historical-fiction series Savannah of Williamsburg: 18thC., pre-Revolutionary, historical tales with a Beatrix Potter twist. Avail for Kindle or ... analog paperback. Wow! Like IRL? Yep, fair reader. I.R.L. Go get you some Savannah of Williamsburg and LMK how much you love it @JennyPopCom!

* Note: Yes! Book IV in the series, Savannah of Williamsburg: Washington, Wisdom & The West, Virginia 1754, is finsihed and edited: all 446pgs just waiting for publication. Be patient, kittens, it'll be worth it, I promise!