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Although pumpkins were likely served during the 1621 harvest festival, the precursor to modern Thanksgiving, attendees certainly didn’t enjoy pumpkin pie (as ingredients like butter and wheat flour for crust were unavailable).
The first documented recipes for pumpkin pie trace back to 17th-century Europe. Pumpkins, along with potatoes and tomatoes, were introduced to Europe through the Columbian Exchange
By the 1700s, pumpkin pie had fallen out of favor in Europe. As noted by HowStuffWorks, Europeans shifted their preference to apple, pear, and quince pies, viewing them as more refined. Meanwhile, pumpkin pie was becoming a beloved staple in America.
In 1796, Amelia Simmons released American Cookery, the first cookbook authored and printed in the American colonies. It featured two recipes for pompkin pudding baked in a pastry shell. Simmons’s instructions involved using “stewed and strained” pumpkin, mixed with nutmeg, allspice, and ginger (indicating that our fascination with pumpkin spice traces back to at least the 1500s).
The strong association between pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving can be credited to Sarah Josepha Hale, a writer and editor from New Hampshire often referred to as the “Godmother of Thanksgiving.” In her 1827 abolitionist novel Northwood, Hale depicted a Thanksgiving feast featuring “fried chicken floating in gravy,” broiled ham, wheat bread, cranberry sauce, and, naturally, pumpkin pie. For over 30 years, Hale campaigned tirelessly for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday, penning editorials and corresponding with five U.S. presidents. She believed Thanksgiving could unite a fractured nation [PDF].
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln officially declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, sparking immediate backlash from Southerners, who saw it as an imposition of Northern values. While Southern governors reluctantly adhered to the proclamation, local cooks created their own regional traditions. In the South, sweet potato pie gained more popularity than New England’s pumpkin pie, largely due to the easier availability of sweet potatoes. Today, pumpkin pie dominates as the favorite holiday pie across much of the U.S., though the Northeast favors apple pie, and the South is divided between apple and pecan, another regional favorite.
