It's interesting to learn how people
dressed long ago, but that subject sometimes can’t be
separated from history in general. And so before talking about what the
Pilgrims wore for the three-day feast that eventually became known as
Thanksgiving, let me set the stage by sharing an account of the event by Edward
Winslow.
“Our harvest being gotten in, our governour
sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce
together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one
day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company
almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our
Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their
greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we
entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they
brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine
and others."
The famous painting by Jennie A.
Brownscombe, shown above, depicts the first Thanksgiving, but it was painted in
1914 and is therefore an artist’s rendering that can’t be taken literally. So,
how do we know what the Pilgrims were decked out in when they celebrated their
first successful harvest? Few items the Pilgrims wore still exist, but they
would have dressed in the same fashion as people in England at that time.
Obviously there were different cloaks for different folks, but we have very few
visual records to guide us. Virtually all paintings of that era are of the
aristocracy to which the Pilgrims did not belong.
We are, however, able to paint a
fairly accurate picture of the Plymouth feast where attire is concerned.
Pilgrim wills and inventories describing articles of clothing are a start. In
addition, The Mayflower passenger list shows several of the Pilgrims came to
America with servants. This points to some of them having been of the Middle
Class - skilled tradesmen and merchants. Fortunately for the fashion
researcher, there is enough from that period in museum collections to give an
idea of how the English Middle Class dressed.
An article by Duane A. Cline at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/index.htm
also gives us insight into the social status of the Pilgrims. “The Pilgrims
were certainly knowledgeable of fabrics and clothing construction. In looking
at the occupations of the Pilgrims we find that Isaac Allerton and James
Chilton were tailors, William Bradford was a fustian-maker, Edward Tilley was a
cloth-maker, John Tilley was a silk worker, Francis Cooke and William White
were wool combers or carders, and Digory Priest had been a hatter in London. In
addition to those clothing-related trades we know that William Mullins was a
boot and shoe merchant, and Thomas Rogers was a camlet merchant.”
Putting the pieces together, we
realize Pilgrim clothes were not as drab as myth would have us think. 1621 was
the early Baroque period when the Cavalier style was all the rage. Although the
flamboyant colors and extravagant details of high society fashion would have
been somewhat toned down by Middle Class and Puritan conservatism, Pilgrim
attire would have conformed to the style of the day by and large. Women’s
dresses would have had shaped bodices and flowing skirts over petticoats. Men
would have worn short, fitted jackets called doublets and breeches or
pantaloons which ended below the knee. The rest of the leg would have been
covered only by hose, except when the knee-high bucket top boots of the day
were worn. Both men and women wore the popular falling ruff, a wide circular
collar that fell on the shoulders and opened in a V.
As I imagine the assembly of Pilgrims
for that first Thanksgiving, I see men in beaver hats with cocked brims sitting
around a long table. There is a man wearing a red waistcoat, which stands out
in contrast to the otherwise subdued colors worn by the group. Another has a
violet velvet cloak lined with taffeta draped over his shoulders. Peeking out
from beneath the skirt of the woman sitting next to him is a pair of
lace-trimmed, pointed slippers that match her embroidered cap. Across the table
from her, another woman wears a dress with a white ruff and sleeves with wide
cuffs. She, like many women in the group, wears an apron. Although they are
hidden from view, her stockings are held with garters, which unlike ours today,
are long, wide ribbons wrapped several times around her upper calves before
being tied securely in a bow.
On the right we see what the Pilgrims likely wore. But how did Chief Massasoit of the
Wampanoag and his entourage of ninety men dress for the occasion, I wonder?
Having not read the full texts of the Pilgrims' journals for their first year
at Plymouth, I can only surmise. One account describes Massasoit when the
Pilgrims first saw him in March, 1621. “The great chief first appeared at the
head of 60 warriors, face painted red and wearing a thick necklace of white
beads, the sign of his authority.” This account makes no mention of clothes,
but it’s safe to assume the Wampanoag were wearing suits of deerskin for their
visit to the Pilgrims in March and again for the feast that would become one of
America's most loved traditions.
Image of "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" by
Jennie A. Brownscombe courtesy of Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/f_thanks.htm
