The cornerstone of Thanksgiving decor is the not - so - small cornucopia : a motor horn whose unspecific opening bubble over with the yield of a bountiful crop . Today the symbol may seem as American as , well , Thanksgiving — but it did n’t start out that way .
Baby Zeus’s Big Break
In Grecian mythology , the Titan rulerKronosfears that his children will usurp him , so he eats each infant soon after their birth . His wife ( and babe ) Rhea salvage their son Zeus from this fate by enlisting Amalthea to raise him secretly in Crete .
Amaltheais either a butt or a water nymph with access to Capricorn , look on which variant of the tarradiddle you ’re reading ; in any slip , baby Zeus grows up on goat ’s Milk River . At some point , Zeus eitherbreaks offone of the laughingstock ’s horns to give to the butt , or the goatsnaps offher own horn to give to Zeus . The cornet is then filled with fruit ( and blossom or herbs ) , either by Zeus ’s godly major power or manually by Amalthea . In some accounts , Zeus ’s powerguaranteesthat the horn will never run empty . Suffice it to say that most of the details of this tale are up for debate — but the main peak is that Zeus was right away or indirectly behind the creation of the inaugural motor horn of tidy sum , which came from a Capricorn .
consort to that fable , at least . Ancient Romans had their own origin account involve Hercules . In Book 9 of Ovid’sMetamorphoses , the river god Achelous describes transforming into a bull during a battle with Hercules , who then tears off one of his horn . “ Grasping one of my horn in his brutal hand , he broke it , tough as it was , and rupture it away from my forehead , leaving me maimed , ” Acheloussays . “ The hooter was filled by the naiads with fruit and with fragrant heyday and , thus made holy , enriches the Spirit of Plenty . ”
After Achelous finishes his chronicle , one of his houri servants appears , Ovid wrote , “ expose the Horn of Plenty and carrying all the prime fruits of the autumn to dish up the guests for the second course . ” It ’s from Latin that we get the wordcornucopia : Cornū cōpiaemeans “ French horn of peck . ”
The cornucopia did n’t stay enclose to either mastermind . Various deities representing agriculture or successfulness have been depicted with it , include the Greek goddess of harvest , Demeter(Zeus ’s sis ) and her Roman counterpart , Ceres ; and the Greek goddess of hazard , Tyche , and her Roman vis-a-vis , Fortuna .
Eventually , Americans co - opted it , too .
A Cornucopia of Cornucopias
It ’s ill-defined who first featured a horn of plenty in their Thanksgiving interior decoration ; mentions of them day of the month at least as far back as the 1870s .
“ Below the verbaliser ’s point of view was an immense profusion , from whose open mouth rolled melons , apples , peaches , pears , oranges , lemons , limes and olives , ” one newspaper correspondentwroteof a Presbyterian military service in Santa Barbara , California , on Thanksgiving in 1875 . “ This great ‘ Horn of Plenty ’ was back by sheaves of grain , interspersed with feathery pampas dope . ”
Early-20th - century columnistspennedinstructions for DIY profuseness centerpieces made from wire covered with linen paper , enclose newspaper , and evensilk . “ The cornucopia , or horn of fruitfulness and abundance , always used by the Greeks and Romans as the symbolisation of plenty , is an minded expression of the persuasion that run on Thanksgiving day , ” Vermont’sSt . Johnsbury Republicanwrotein 1913 . “ The contents should be arranged so that the richness is overflowing , the fruits and heyday running out of the car horn and over the table . ”
By the 1930s , the cornucopia ’s connection with Thanksgiving was solid enough that peoplestartedthinking outside the box . In 1930 , for model , theChronicle Tribuneof Marion , Indiana , printed arecipefor “ richness sandwiches ” that need rolling “ fan - regulate pieces ” of de - crusted bread and smoked sturgeon into cones and tucking “ little sprigs of parsley ” into each opening . “ Other fillings such as creamed mushroom , olive and cheese , creamed poulet or lobster , in fact any tasteful moist pick makes the Cornucopia sandwich a delight , ” the recipe ’s creator drop a line . Another widelypublishedrecipe from 1940involvedrolling pastry cabbage into conoid , baking them , and then filling the diminutive horn with candied cranberries .
The mid-20th one C see gargantuan cornucopiasstuffedwith elephantine fake fruit ( “ The bananas are six feet long and the orchard apple tree are two and a half feet in diam ! ” ) ; smaller edible onesformedfrom “ cool down leaves of wampum ” ; and all manner of the centerpiece diversity , fromwickertogold ceramic . TheMacy ’s Thanksgiving Day Paradehas done a passel to keep the trend of massive cornucopias live in the innovative earned run average ; and focusing for making horn of plenty appetiser from , say , ice cream conesand confect are now just a quick internet search by .
In short , Americans have been trying to outflank themselves in the cornucopia department for decade — but it ’s hard to compete with gods .
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