(That would be an ancient Italian civilization.) Maybe you've had a friend try it or heard about a friend of a friend doing it at their reception -- the wishbone tradition has recently become a huge hit at weddings and other gatherings. Greedy individual Romans, however, would try to keep the wishbone (and hence. Today the internet has taken a bit of magic out of the wishbone tradition with tips on winning like choosing the thicker side (obvious) or ones that use the physics of pulling apart a two-pronged bone to your advantage like holding the wishbone closer to the center or letting the other person do most of the pulling. We all have two collarbones, but avian ones are fused together in a forked manner to help with flight, while ours remain unfused. Poultry have a long history of being used to grant wishes and tell the future. Click HERE to shop our ‘Oh Snap!’ Collection. As ever-present as the kids’ table and the mashed potatoes, it’s a tradition that your great-grandma likely participated in and odds are good that your great-grandchild probably will end up doing the same. First things first, a wishbone is actually called a furcula, and it’s just the fusion of clavicles in a bird. © 2020, Countryside - All Rights Reserved. The Etruscans REALLY liked chickens, so much so that they felt they were oracles capable of predicting the future and would place them in a sacred circle to peck out divine messages from letters placed on the ground. The tradition dates back to the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that lived in the area we know as Italy today. On this thanking festival, a tradition of fracturing a wishbone came into existence. They make a wish, and pull until it breaks; the person left with the larger half will have their wish come true. The Roman army carried cages of “sacred chickens” with them — the designated chicken keeper was known as the pullarius. Once the Thanksgiving meal is over, most families take part in an annual wishbone tradition. On Thanksgiving day in kitchens all over the country, countless siblings and cousins will fight over who gets to be the pair to break the turkey wishbone between the two of them. Required fields are marked *. He fought instead. Though we think of it as a Thanksgiving tradition, plenty of people used to break wishbones every time they served up a whole bird. And so the idea of the ‘wishbone’ was born. A Leader in Wedding Accessories For Over 24 Years! Tate writes that after St. Martin’s Night, a dried goose’s breastbone would be examined to determine “whether the coming winter would be cold, wet, or dry.”. Americans are increasingly turning to processed poultry in the form of ground turkey or chicken breasts and wings, more often than the whole bird and the occasions for gathering up a wishbone are becoming rarer as we look for ways to save time while making dinner. The tradition goes like this: two people take hold of the turkey’s wishbone, or furcula, a bone that connects head with neck (similar to a collar bone). But why? But instead of breaking the bone in half, Etruscans would make a wish while stroking the bone — more like a good luck charm. The people of Rome began fighting over the unbroken bones of chickens because they wanted good fortune. Depending on how patient the wishbone breakers are, the bone might be broken that night or in the days following the feast. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. And what on earth is a wishbone anyway? “He and most of his army were slain within three hours as a devastating earthquake shook Italy,” Lawler writes. On Thanksgiving day in kitchens all over the country, countless siblings and cousins will fight over who gets to be the pair to break the turkey wishbone between the two of them. Over time the Etruscans were absorbed into the Roman Empire, which took on many Etruscan gods and traditions, including the wishbone, for its own. These party favorites are made from plastic but look, feel, and break just like the real thing! Geese helped foretell how bad the coming winter would be in European and Scandinavian traditions. Obey the chickens — or else. Who knew? So there you have it! Your email address will not be published. The Roman’s embraced many of the Etruscan customs. Once, as Andrew Lawler writes in Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?, the sacred chickens suggested a Roman general stay in camp. The wishbone rules are simple: one person grabs each side, pulls, and the person with the bigger half gets a Thanksgiving wish. It all started around 320 BC with the ancient Etruscans, who at the time were a band of loose-knit tribes living in Italy near what is now Tuscany. Though wishbones are commonly associated with turkeys, all poultry have them — chickens, ducks, broad-breasted vs. heritage turkeys, and even geese — and people have been using these domesticated birds to grant wishes or tell the future since ancient times. Currently, it is recognized a national holiday, which marks the day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest. Breaking the bone in half was an idea that came from the Romans, who adopted the Etruscans’ beliefs regarding a chicken’s powers of divination but wanted to make sure that there were enough bones to go around. So why do we break them in half for luck? During Yom Kippur, some Jews practice kapparot where a live chicken is swung overhead in a circle three times, taking on that person’s sins, before the bird is slaughtered and given to the poor. Compared to decisions like whether to wage a war or how well to stock the larder before a long winter, making a wish on the snap of a turkey’s bone feels like low stakes. The bird has been carved and the skeleton picked clean, and a small Y-shaped bone is set aside to dry. Chickens were often kept hungry or overfed the day before “divining” desired answers. In Santeria and Voodoo, chickens are a common sacrifice and one can occasionally still find the tradition of reading the future in the animal’s entrails — a custom which also dates back to Roman times. The Weird World of Hen Oracles Believe it or not, the wishbone tradition began with a chicken, not a turkey as we commonly think of it today. The poultry premonitions were so important that many advisers began to game the system. Making wishes with wishbones or trying to see the future thanks to hungry chickens or fat geese were once part of daily life. Despite the tricks for getting the bigger half (and I suspect my parents would have reverse-cheated so I could have it), what made it so exciting was that despite all my plotting and studying the wishbone ahead of time, I never knew if I’d won until after I heard the snap and looked down at the bone fragment in my hand. And now, thanks to the modern arrival of synthetic, Wedding Contests, Sweepstakes, Giveaways, & Free Wedding Stuff, Guide to the Most Popular Wedding Superstitions, So where did the wishbone tradition get its competitive element? Many children, however, study the wishbone long and hard before deciding which side they think will win a coveted wish. Why do we break a poultry bone in the hopes that it brings us good fortune? The “wishbone tradition” was derived from this early practice. The tradition has been around longer than you think! Whichever of my parents felt like pulling it held the other end. From there, it came to the colonies with English settlers, though Pilgrims transferred the tradition to turkeys. Sign up for our Newsletters and receive wedding tips, notices of new product lines, promotions and coupons! The bird has been carved and the skeleton picked clean, and a small Y-shaped bone is set aside to dry. (The name came later.). So, the next time you grab a rotisserie chicken from the store or unwrap a farm-fresh whole duck for the table, set that Y-shaped bone aside and make a wish. After all, humans have been doing it for thousands of years. Today, breaking a wishbone isn’t just a fun tradition but also a rare link to our food — a way to remember that birds have skeletons just like us even if they’re lighter and thinner and so breakable that a little kid can snap one between her hands. Compared to decisions like whether to wage a war or how well to stock the larder before a long winter, making a wish on the snap of a turkey’s bone feels like low stakes. According to Peter Tate’s book, Flights of Fancy, it was during the St. Martin’s Night celebrations in medieval Europe that people started the wishbone tradition as we know it today with two people pulling on the wishbone, then called “merry thought.”. They still also liked to eat chickens, but after a chicken was killed, they would try to preserve their ability to access the oracle’s power by laying the furcula out in the sun to dry so they could later stroke the dried bone and make wishes on it. Home : The History of the Wishbone Tradition. Breaking the bone in half ensured that two people got the chance to make a wish. The turkey day tradition is an ancient one, with roots in fortune-telling chickens who hail from Europe. Once the Thanksgiving meal is over, most families take part in an annual wishbone tradition. Other religions also have ceremonies that involve poultry, many of them controversial. The tradition dates back to the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that lived in the area we know as Italy today. Well, you see, it all began with the Etruscans. Particularly superstitious wishers often let the bone dry for three days before snapping it. Ancient Greeks used to place grain on marked cards or mark kernels of corn with letters and carefully record which ones their chickens pecked first. The Romans brought this tradition with them as they traveled throughout Europe, and eventually, the English took up the practice as well. The furcula, as the bone is actually called, hangs off the bird’s skeleton like a necktie and helps stabilize them for flight, a thing that modern turkeys don’t do much of anymore. Growing up as an only child, I never had to fight over the wishbone. Your email address will not be published. Test your luck and save a turkey with Lucky Wishbone Favors! Thanksgiving is a festivity spotted in the areas of Canada, United States, and Liberia.