Was Pumpkin Pie an Act of Northern Aggression?

Joined
Nov 26, 2016
Location
central NC
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A 19th-century Thanksgiving greeting. (New York Public Library/ Public Domain)

Did you know the 19th-century campaign to make Thanksgiving a permanent holiday was seen by prominent Southerners as a culture war? Sad, but true. Southerners considered it a Northern holiday intended to force Northern values on the South. Southerners even decried pumpkin pie as a Yankee food, although a deviously sweet one.

This decry was due in part to American Cookery, widely considered the first “American” cookbook. American Cookery was known as an example of traditional Northern fare and not one, but two pumpkin pie recipes appeared in it. Both recipes called for "Northern ingredients" such as squash and molasses and as more states—mainly in the North—recognized Thanksgiving, the pie became closely associated with Northern tradition.

Southern leaders attacked Thanksgiving as the North’s attempt to impart Yankee values on the South. Virginians, especially, railed against it. In 1856, the Richmond Whig published a scathing editorial on the District of Columbia’s “repugnant” declaration of thanksgiving, arguing that the holiday did nothing but rob men of a day’s wages and encourage drunkenness. Yikes!!!

In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared the first national Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November of 1863. This was actually his second thanksgiving proclamation of that year. He also called for a thanksgiving feast after the Union victory at Gettysburg.

image.jpg

(Library of Congress - Public Domain)

While politicians continued to fight over the symbolism of the holiday for years to come, Americans quickly made Thanksgiving celebrations their own. Southern cooks often transformed the Yankee pumpkin pie into sweet potato pie. Yet pumpkin pie remained an iconic Thanksgiving dessert. While the traditional version was once decried as just another invasion of the North, Southern adaptations such as mixing in bourbon, adding pecans, or swapping out squash for sweet potato now created an opportunity for cooks and diners across America to feel both connected and culturally independent. In its own way, pumpkin pie helped unite us.
 
View attachment 381155
A 19th-century Thanksgiving greeting. (New York Public Library/ Public Domain)

Did you know the 19th-century campaign to make Thanksgiving a permanent holiday was seen by prominent Southerners as a culture war? Sad, but true. Southerners considered it a Northern holiday intended to force Northern values on the South. Southerners even decried pumpkin pie as a Yankee food, although a deviously sweet one.

This decry was due in part to American Cookery, widely considered the first “American” cookbook. American Cookery was known as an example of traditional Northern fare and not one, but two pumpkin pie recipes appeared in it. Both recipes called for "Northern ingredients" such as squash and molasses and as more states—mainly in the North—recognized Thanksgiving, the pie became closely associated with Northern tradition.

Southern leaders attacked Thanksgiving as the North’s attempt to impart Yankee values on the South. Virginians, especially, railed against it. In 1856, the Richmond Whig published a scathing editorial on the District of Columbia’s “repugnant” declaration of thanksgiving, arguing that the holiday did nothing but rob men of a day’s wages and encourage drunkenness. Yikes!!!

In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared the first national Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November of 1863. This was actually his second thanksgiving proclamation of that year. He also called for a thanksgiving feast after the Union victory at Gettysburg.

View attachment 381156
(Library of Congress - Public Domain)

While politicians continued to fight over the symbolism of the holiday for years to come, Americans quickly made Thanksgiving celebrations their own. Southern cooks often transformed the Yankee pumpkin pie into sweet potato pie. Yet pumpkin pie remained an iconic Thanksgiving dessert. While the traditional version was once decried as just another invasion of the North, Southern adaptations such as mixing in bourbon, adding pecans, or swapping out squash for sweet potato now created an opportunity for cooks and diners across America to feel both connected and culturally independent. In its own way, pumpkin pie helped unite us.
Wonder if this is why most southern Thanksgiving gatherings offer pumpkin pie - but, the majority choose Pecan and Sweet potato instead? :wink:
 
Did you know the 19th-century campaign to make Thanksgiving a permanent holiday was seen by prominent Southerners as a culture war? Sad, but true. Southerners considered it a Northern holiday intended to force Northern values on the South. Southerners even decried pumpkin pie as a Yankee food, although a deviously sweet one...

Southern leaders attacked Thanksgiving as the North’s attempt to impart Yankee values on the South. Virginians, especially, railed against it. In 1856, the Richmond Whig published a scathing editorial on the District of Columbia’s “repugnant” declaration of thanksgiving, arguing that the holiday did nothing but rob men of a day’s wages and encourage drunkenness. Yikes!!!
An especially interesting accusation, since the "original" New Englanders, the Pilgrims and Puritans, said much the same for the "traditional" Southern holiday, Christmas, the celebration of which was proscribed for decades there, until well after the Revolution.
 
An especially interesting accusation, since the "original" New Englanders, the Pilgrims and Puritans, said much the same for the "traditional" Southern holiday, Christmas, the celebration of which was proscribed for decades there, until well after the Revolution.
The Pilgrims and Puritans were not the original New Englanders--nor can all who lived in New England said to be either Pilgrims or Puritans. The earliest Christmas in New England may have been 1604 in Maine (French Catholics and Huguenots). 😲
 
The Pilgrims and Puritans were not the original New Englanders--nor can all who lived in New England said to be either Pilgrims or Puritans. The earliest Christmas in New England may have been 1604 in Maine (French Catholics and Huguenots). :banghead:
True, and they and their celebrations were equally despised by the P&P's! I recall one competing trading settlement being obliterated by the self-righteous Puritans, partly for having erected a Maypole and cavorting around it with the natives.
 
Remember it's the Puritans we're talking about! (Besides, it provided them a good excuse for permanently removing a source of trading competition too.)
There was still room for cavorters in New England. Vermont (caught in a bind between NH and NY) wasn't a Puritan colony. And, after 1691 (when it became a crown colony), the New Hampshirians (New Hamsherites?) could cavort as well.
 
My grandfather was a devotee of Lemon Meringue Pie--to the point that my grandmother served it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, family birthdays and all sorts of occasions. But mince pie with hard sauce is mighty hard to beat--if one discounts blueberry pie and rhubarb cream pie!
 
My grandfather was a devotee of Lemon Meringue Pie--to the point that my grandmother served it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, family birthdays and all sorts of occasions. But mince pie with hard sauce is mighty hard to beat--if one discounts blueberry pie and rhubarb cream pie!
My Great Uncle Gordon was the same, except his was Chocolate pie. He could handle anything else my Aunt Grace chose to serve for the meal as long as she had her homemade Chocolate pie waiting for dessert.
There’s nothing wrong with a good Lemon Meringue in my opinion. Honestly, I have an affinity for the Edward’s brand Lemon Meringue pie. When I was in high school, the company started packaging individual slices of their Lemon Meringue pie. Momma, always a cautious shopper, would every so often get some - of course, she bought it when the store had it in sale and she had a coupon too- and, it was a special day at school when you found it in your lunch. There’s a knack to enjoying it too. One eats the meringue first and then goes back for the lemon layer. I can make a slice of that pie last for a long time. :wink:
 
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