Frazz by Jef Mallett for November 22, 2021

History… particularly as promulgated in grade school… is a lot like the game of “Gossip” where the message gets massaged at every step… to make it easier to understand, and yes easier to illustrate. We hope that it doesn’t lose all it’s real flavor in the process.

Deer, Wild Fowl and Fish. That, according to the few surviving documents, is what the Pilgrim Fathers had for the first thanksgiving (and a sort of Corn Bread Porridge.) Turkey? Probably not. Those hats? Nope.

A reminder here that historically the first actual thanksgiving took place in 1619 in Virginia Colony. JFK proclaimed it so. Modern remembrance ceremonies used to be held at Berkeley Plantation on the James River.

Had they reached their original destination in VA, there might have been a clash of cultures that would have changed history. Virginia was already semi-established in the mores of English life. Pilgrim values might not have been welcomed there. But the storm that drove their ships northward, along the east coast, settled that.

The hand print turkey is a classic American art project. Every child has made or will make one at least once in their life time.

Frazz ever worn an Ice Age Trail or North County Trail Tee-shirt?

Man, he’s only 9 years old and saying “Another Thanksgiving Week”? Most of us are in our 40s before we start getting bored with the holiday cycle.

What was the deal with the buckles on those hats? Were they adjustable or something?

The common depiction of Mayflower pilgrims

Has buckles on hats for the men

And bonnets for women, plus black and white clothing,

But these weren’t so common back then.

The black was a difficult dye in those days,

So they wore it for fancy events,

Including their portraits. Unless they were rich,

Wearing black every day made no sense.

And most of the settlers didn’t have much,

So they dressed in a number of hues.

In fact, they used laces to hold up their pants,

Not those buckles we thought they would use.

They did wear the capotains (conical hats),

But the buckles would not be in fashion

For decades to come, and the Puritans still

Deemed them lavish, preferring to ration.

(In case you were wondering, buckles on hats

Served as more than a symbol of wealth:

They tightened the hats to fit heads of all sizes,

Akin to their function on belts.)

Except for the buckle, the Capotain hat was commonly worn and looked the way it has been drawn.

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/what-did-pilgrims-wear/

Not that long ago I read a real account of the settling of the Pilgrims. That was a sad story, ending badly for the Native Americans.

We draw turkeys because if we drew corn and cranberries, it would be difficult to recognize them.

The high hats with the buckle are a 19th Century caricature along with the exaggerated blunderbusses. Check out the Plimoth Patuxet Museums website for more accurate depictions of both English and Wampanoag dress and accessories.