One blessing and curse of modern living is that we are more and more separated from the “sources” of our lives. It goes without saying that we are completely removed from the realities of food production as we purchase grown, harvested, selected, and shipped “organic” produce from Whole Foods. We buy food that has gluten removed…and we don’t know how it got there in the first place. We keep animals in our lives, but like in a reality show, these are “safe.” We hear about the occasional person who raises and eats his own chickens (Don*) and we are happy this eccentricity is nearby, but have no interest in participating (I’m sure this is just me, but I know I would have a moment of discomfort if I sat down at a friend’s table and learned the Chicken Kiev is actually Chicken Orange Park Acres).
In more recent years this separation has grown, as we move further and further away from sources. Barely a week goes by when I don’t receive a box from Amazon at my door (including a growing number of staples). My first thought when needing anything is to grab for my iPad, not head for the mall. Even when I do go to the grocery store, I am irritated if there isn’t a self-checkout station where I can manage the entire transaction without any human contact.
Christmas, too, comes more and more prepackaged. Malls are decorated overnight (usually in October) and Christmas is delivered, not made. Tomorrow I will be attending a traditional tree-lighting ceremony nearby, but even this is enjoyed because of the “throwback” feel, not out of a true community spirit. If you are lucky, you might see the truck delivering trees to a lot (probably a tradition whose days are numbered), but it isn’t like the yearly Wells Fargo commercial with the entire town coming out to greet the stage carrying the community Christmas tree (I know this is phony nostalgia, perpetrated by one of the most venal companies of the year, but it still speaks to me).
So today when I was listening to a podcast about Turkey Drives, I knew I had to learn more. Up until the early 20th century, turkey farmers had no practical way to bring turkeys from farm to town except to walk them there. Prior to the holiday season, farmers in England and America would drive massive herds (flocks?) of turkeys into large towns. Some of these drives would cover over 100 miles and take over a week (one can picture the lonely “turkeyboys” camping on the rustic countryside, singing sad songs and drinking rotgut …Wild Turkey?). There were, however, real dangers inherent with marching a relatively defenseless, abundantly meaty caravan across country. Turkey herds were often significantly thinned by predators, and though I can find no record of turkey stampedes, one can only imagine. Once the turkeys reached town they were delivered to markets or to individual houses. Imagine opening your door to see a hundred turkeys ready for your selection. Not even Amazon drones can match this picture.
I was surprised to discover that turkeys were actually well suited for long distance travel and few ever succumbed to the rigors of the journey (with the foxes they weren’t so fortunate). Their feet were not optimal for this journey, however, so many farmers would put tiny leather “shoes” on their feet (I am desperately upset that I cannot find a picture of these shoes anywhere I look). Farmers would drive geese in the same way, but “you can’t shoe a goose” so they would dip their feet in tar. One other challenge is the sensitivity of turkeys to light. Apparently in larger towns the herd could come under the shadow of a large building and numbers of turkeys would fall asleep and have to roused by the drovers.
So, aside from a great bit of trivia, what can be taken from this.? The preparation for Christmas can be completely prepackaged, food, decorations, even emotions. Perhaps thinking about this frighteningly real “Turkey Drive” can help us to look more closely to the sources of our season, the reality of food, the challenge of decoration, the complexity of emotion. We can be modern turkeyboys bringing real Christmas into town.
As always, I welcome your comments.
* I honestly don’t know if my friend Don eats his own chickens.
To learn more about turkey drives, you can read http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/back-when-your-thanksgiving-dinner-walked-hundreds-of-miles-to-market
At a young age, I was with my father when he air-conditioned a chicken processing plant. Since then, chicken has been way down on my favored food list. At one end of the line was a live chicken. At the other the dead and plucked and eviscerated bird emerged. In between were the smells, the humidity, the feathers, the workers. But then again, if we paid a living wage and if we had fair working conditions, none of us could afford vegetables. Maybe we should have a new source: I have heard of something called “soylent green.” Anyone know about this?