This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people coming to you from

the city where the west begins, Fort Worth, Texas. So much of our Thanksgiving stereotypes

and traditions are not rooted in historical reality, yet the reality is much more colorful

and much richer.

Here to tell the story is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and its sister, The Brain Food Show podcast.

Also contributing to this story is the late great historian David McCullough.

Let's take a listen.

Today, we're looking at the common myth that the pilgrims wore black and white clothing with buckled top hats. The myth that they

dressed like this stems from a popular clothing style in England in the late 17th century,

which carried over to the 18th and 19th century artists' depictions of the pilgrims.

So what did the pilgrims actually wear? Historical records of pilgrims' clothing,

such as the passenger list of the Mayflower, wills which included descriptions of clothing,

and other such records, paint a very different picture than the late 17th century artists depicted.

For starters, the pilgrims didn't wear buckled hats, nor did they wear buckles on their

shoes or their waists.

Buckles were expensive and just not in fashion at the time.

They simply wore the much cheaper leather laces to tie up their shoes and hold up their

pants.

Buckles later became very popular in England for their expense and as a fashion statement.

Those who were too poor to afford buckles wore laces similar to the Pilgrims.

They also didn't only wear black and white. The pilgrim's common garb was very colourful, as was the fashion at the time.

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