by Lenna Gonya

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2011

The turkey is traditionally the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner table, but you can't help but wonder if this would have been the case if Benjamin Franklin had had his way. Franklin wrote that he believed that the turkey should be the national bird. He insisted that the eagle was too fierce and predatory, but the wild turkey, while a somewhat silly bird, strutted about, and was never afraid to defend its territory, against any aggressor. Six years after the newly-founded American government had debated on the really important topic of the national bird of choice, and had decided on the American Bald Eagle, Benjamin Franklin wrote his daughter a letter, expressing his alternative. He apparently thought that the first drawings of our national bird looked more like a turkey than the Bald Eagle.

When the first Europeans came to the New World, they had never seen a wild turkey. There were large flocks of these impressive, colorful birds in the forests and open areas. The males were colorful, proud masters of their domain, strutting, gobbling, and protecting their flock. Most importantly, the new immigrants found that these large birds were good to eat.

As the years past, the word turkey when applied to a person became less than complimentary, because the domesticated turkey had been bred to be, well, somewhat stupid. The turkey trot was a less than graceful dance from the early 20th century, that involved strutting and bobbing your head, and was banned in some areas. And, of course, the awful turkey neck, which was something bad you develop later in life that is supposed to resemble the tom turkey's wattle- the big red flabby thing that hangs down on its throat.

I suppose, given Franklin's definition and description of the turkey in the 18th century, you could honestly make a good case for either bird as the nation's symbol. Both of them certainly have their attributes. However, if you are going to be practical, the turkey would probably get the people's vote, for dinner purposes. Somehow, we can't imagine replacing  the impressive Bald Eagle, clutching the arrows and sheaves of wheat on the seal as a 20 pound tom turkey, complete with red wattle and a fan of feathers. And, it's probably just as well.

If, indeed, the turkey had become the national bird, would Thanksgiving as we know it still be the same? What a waste if the wild turkey still roamed the countryside in abundance as a protected species, and what a loss to Thanksgiving dinner.

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