Oh My [Thanksgiving] Sides: Ubiquitous Oysters, Faux Mangoes and Trophy-Celery

But wait a bit,’ the Oysters cried, Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath, And all of us are fat!
1871. The Walrus and the Carpenter (Carroll)

Did you know that OYSTERS were pretty much a standard feature of the late 19th Century Thanksgiving meal? Given how expensive the fat little bivalves are these days, it’s almost shocking how often they showed up on festive tables

For several reasons (a large supply, improvements in harvesting methods, and the success of the canning industry) Oysters were way more affordable in 1875 than they are today. Evidence of an abundance of oysters is seen in the numerous oyster treatments found in period Cook Books: Creamed, baked, curried, kebobbed, scalloped and fried. Some of the applications are still respectable (served on the half-shell as an appetizer, made into Soup; “dressing” and sauce), though others — oyster pie, oyster fritters and oyster shortcakes seem to be making he point that “there are too many oysters ‘round here.”

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, at the behest of Sarah Hale, issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise,” thus heading our country toward the annual holiday we celebrate today.

Shortly thereafter, according to the Food Timeline, cookbooks published in America began including Thanksgiving “Bills of Fare” (aka Menus). This almost certainly helped solidify the traditional food collection we’ve come to expect and salivate over. In fact, my Completely Unscientific Survey of cookbooks published in the late 1800s revealed that 19th Century people ate more or less what we do.

Except for the oysters, of course.

Actually, there are one or two differences. For one thing, Chicken Pie was almost always served alongside the turkey, a practice we’d call “double dinner” and have pretty much abandoned. The National Parks Service claims chicken pie is a “uniquely antebellum tradition” that made its way north and east. And a “contemporary” article from 1895 (Mary Lincoln’s “Thanksgiving – Our American Festival”) pointed out that in November, just in time for a Thanksgiving feast, tough old chickens end up as chicken pie. So, I guess, why not invite it to the feast?

Then and now, the most popular Thanksgiving side dish is mashed potatoes. You’ll never guess what was just as popular in the late 1800s though —

Celery!

Routinely defiled with peanut butter and raisins today, Celery was a “status food” in the 1800s. Anybody who was Anybody placed Celery on her Thanksgiving table.

Walter G. Ritchie, Jr (“At Home in the Nineteenth Century”) says Celery held a “prominent place” on the table, almost like a centerpiece. Stalks, with all their leaves attached, were displayed in a Special “Celery Vase.”

Wonder if anybody actually ate the green stuff.

Shown left is one such Celery Vase, made of Pressed Glass and dated between 1850-1870; part of the Met’s collection of American Decorative Arts. I feel like I’ve seen similar vases in my Grandmother’s house – didn’t know they had a special function, though.
Image Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

OK, one more surprise and it’s one I bet nobody predicted: Some of the Menus suggest serving Mangoes at the Thanksgiving meal. What’s a tropical fruit doing on a 19^th Century table in an age when refrigeration meant an Ice Box and air transport had yet to be invented?

Turns out, they weren’t “real” Mangoes. They were pickles. According to Food Timeline, when the British stationed themselves in India in the 1600s, they learned about mangos, and liked them so much they brought them home.

Or tried to. Mangoes won’t grow in England. And even if it were possible to transport the delicate fruit from India to England, they would not keep in an Ice Box.

Fear not, though. Before long, clever cooks and housekeepers figured out how to make “mock” mangos out of muskmelons, peaches and cucumbers by way of VERY elaborate pickling processes.

From England mango love spread to the Colonies, where American CB authors shared techniques for making mangoes with tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons. These pickles were often referred to simply as “mangoes” rather than “fake mangoes” perhaps because few outside India would have seen an actual mango in the 19th Century,

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving

What to Do with this Story

Lincoln’s was not the first TG Proclamation. Other presidents had issued similar docs, including George Washington and James Madison. William Bradford of Plimoth Plantation famously did so in 1623. Find out more about these Thanksgiving ancestors

For that matter, learn more about Sarah Hale and her campaign for a national Thanksgiving holiday

Most of the Cookbooks published in the 19^th Century contained at least one or two oyster recipes. In fact, some cook books and booklets were devoted exclusively to the topic of enjoying oysters. Check out Fifteen New Ways for Oysters written by one of the Home Ec SuperStars of the age: Sarah Rorer, “America’s first dietician” and founder of the Philadelphia Cooking School

Investigate Oyster Plates, Celery Vases, Porcelain and/or American Pressed Glass

If you’re curious about how the Pioneers cooked an old “stew chicken,” here’s an 1899 article describing prepping, boiling, and cooking the chicken – along with the biscuits, pie crust, and gravy that accompany it

Surprisingly, Succotash (corn and beans) rarely appeared on the cookbook menus I looked at. The general word on the ‘net is that Succotash is so old a dish it was probably served at Plymoth; many modern food bloggers offer their own recipes. Conduct your own Unscientific Survey to find succotash recipes in Old CookBooks. Here’s a collection at the Internet Archive to get you started