Happy Thanksgiving!

Have you ever wondered how the traditions of Thanksgiving really came about? Here are five “hidden symbols” you probably didn’t know.

The Thanksgiving Code: Five Hidden Symbols of America’s Holiday, by Bruce Feiler of FoxNews.com

The real story of Thanksgiving reads like a Dan Brown novel. It involves a little-known web of secret societies, biblical imagery, presidential power, and lost books. A few years ago, I set out on a 10,000-mile journey through the hidden symbols of American life that became the basis for my new book, “America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story.” One afternoon I was invited to join the all-male, secret society based in Plymouth, Massachusetts that is the keeper of the Thanksgiving flame. Thanksgiving begins in America’s hometown when these men make their annual sail across Plymouth Harbor to the off-limits island where the pilgrims spent their first Sabbath. What I learned on this trip would forever change how viewed America’s holiday.

Here are Five Secrets of Thanksgiving:

1. The Secret Society That Invented Thanksgiving.

The Old Colony club is the “oldest gentleman’s club” in America. It was founded in 1769 to avoid the “many disadvantages and inconveniences” of intermixing at local taverns. On December 11 that year the club started celebrated the pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock. Since the term pilgrims was not in use at the time, members referred to their celebration as “Old Colony Day,” later “Forefathers’ Day.” They ate baked whortleberry pudding, clams, codfish, venison, eel, and cranberry tarts. It is the first recorded celebration of the pilgrims’ landing and introduced the tradition of future Thanksgivings.

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