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ANOTHER VIEW Exploring facts and fiction for the Fourth By Paige Onorato More Content Now MailTribune.com By Paige Onorato More Content Now Posted Jul. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Paige Onorato More Content Now Posted Jul. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> John Adams said it best in a letter to his wife, Abigail: A day of celebrating independence from Great Britain “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” That’s a big order, but Americans have gone about trying to fill it in his recommended style on July 4 for 239 years. Actually, our freedom was first declared July 2, 1776, by the second Continental Congress; the date on the Declaration of Independence is July 4, hence our Fourth of July holiday. The first celebration was a year later in Bristol, Rhode Island, with a 13-gun salute honoring the 13 original colonies sounding off both morning and evening. Little Bristol still observes the Fourth in a big way, with pomp and parade that would make Adams proud. Philadelphia went all out on that first anniversary, with a celebratory dinner for the Continental Congress, including speeches and music, fireworks and ships dressed in red, white and blue bunting. Meanwhile, over in New Jersey, Gen. George Washington treated his troops to a double ration of rum in honor of the day. Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about driving under the influence. In France at the time, Benjamin Franklin had friends over for a festive dinner. But he had his say about our national symbol, the bald eagle. “He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly,” he wrote to his daughter. “You may have seen him perched on some dead tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk.” Franklin added the turkey was a “bird of courage” who’d go after any Redcoat who dared enter the farm yard. The first recorded celebration took place in 1783 right next door to our town in Salem, where Moravians commemorated the occasion with the music of Johann Friedrich Peter’s “The Psalm of Joy.” Salem, Mass., got in on the act in a gruesome way. Bonfires were once the order of the day, the higher the better. The town boasted the highest bonfire of all, built of casks and barrels on Gallows Hill, the site of the executions of 13 women and six men convicted of witchcraft at the Salem witch trials in 1692. July 4 was first called Independence Day in 1791, and it took 81 years for Congress to declare it an unpaid holiday for federal employees. Finally, in 1938, the Fourth became a paid federal holiday, and the good times rolled. Three presidents died on the Fourth: Adams and Jefferson both in 1826 and Monroe five years later. Calvin Coolidge was the only president born on that day, in 1872, but he shares the distinction with Malia Obama (1998) and Trigger, Roy Rogers’ horse. Down South the Fourth of July wasn’t much of a holiday, probably because we were still sulking about the outcome of the War Between the States and didn’t much feel like whooping it up with a bunch of Yankees. I recall a parade we cousins presented in my Grandmother’s backyard involving bikes and tricycles and little red wagons festooned with crepe paper streamers. We marched or rode along banging pots for drums and clashing lids for cymbals, no doubt to the tune of “Dixie.” Folks didn’t really have big backyard cookouts until the mid-1900s, so weenies and burgers weren’t necessarily the fare for the day. In parts of New England, folks gathered around a tableful of salmon and peas; in Rhode Island clam chowder was a tradition, often concocted and sold by local fire departments as a fundraiser. Midwesterners most likely ate things like brats and German potato salad. Turtle soup was a favorite in some areas; West Coasters had steamed Dungeness crabs and whole smoked salmon, no doubt. And on the Hawaiian isles, they most likely hunkered down to Spam and pineapple kabobs. And of course New Yorkers have gathered on Coney Island on the Fourth for decades to see who can eat the most hot dogs at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. According to the legend, four immigrants met at Nathan’s hot dog stand way back in 1916 to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. The one who ate the most wieners was the winner. More hot dogs are consumed on July Fourth than any other day of the year, about 155 million. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut won $10,000 at Nathan’s contest by eating 61 of them with buns and yellow mustard last year, but not before proposing to his girlfriend on bended knee. My grandmother guarded her pennies with ferocity and could feed the whole family, it was said, on a pound of steak. She stretched her ground beef with bread cubes and onions, shaped them into patties and had Rich and Murphy cook them on the outdoor brick fireplace. We’ll probably all be eating the same thing in somebody’s backyard Saturday, for the all-American menu nowadays is the burger and dog route with corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans and watermelon. I’ll add sliced tomatoes (locally grown, I hope) and flag cake, a sheet cake made to look like Old Glory with Cool Whip, blueberries and strawberries. I doubt if we’ll have any of Adams’ guns, bells and bonfires, but we will have our own version of “pomp and parade.” No two tots of rum for drivers, though. Lexington (N.C.) Dispatch columnist Page H. Onorato is a retired teacher. By Paige Onorato More Content Now MailTribune.com By Paige Onorato More Content Now Posted Jul. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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