 The Spaniards had brought domesticated turkeys back from Central America in the early 17th century, and the birds soon became popular fare all over Europe, including England, where turkey (as an alternative to the traditional goose) became a "fixture at English Christmases".The Pilgrims did not observe Christmas, as they could find no evidence in the scriptures as to when such a holiday should be celebrated and felt its December scheduling was a spurious Roman Catholic invention.As a result of the size of Thanksgiving dinner, Americans eat more food on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year.