stains on our families’ refrigerators during the Thanksgiving season. We remember not liking to draw Pilgrims, because they wore boring black and white clothing, and the men wore those long black steeple hats sporting a gold or silver buckle.
So it is with more than a little feeling of righteous vengeance that we report that we were sold a bill of goods. Pilgrims might have worn hats, and those hats might have even been tall. But they were rarely black and never had a buckle on them.
How were generations brainwashed into thinking that Pilgrims wore buckled hats? For many Americans, there is confusion between the Pilgrims and Puritans. The two groups weren’t totally unrelated: Both were early settlers in America in the early seventeenth century, and both groups fled England to escape what they considered to be an authoritarian and tyrannical Anglican Church, the state-sponsored religion of their government.
But in spirit, the two groups were far apart. The Pilgrims were separatists, who wanted to practice a simple religion without the rituals and symbolism that they felt had spoiled the “Protestant” church. Pilgrims first tried emigrating to Holland, but the poor economic conditions there, along with some religious intolerance, led one contingent to come to America. Approximately sixty of the one hundred passengers aboard the
Mayflower
were separatists (i.e., Pilgrims), and they settled in or near Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
Puritans, on the other hand, did not want to sever their relationship from the Anglican fold completely, but sought to “purify” the church. Puritans wanted to eliminate many of the reforms of the Protestant movement, and return the church to more traditional practices. Several hundred Puritans moved to America in 1629, and settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in what is now Cape Cod.
Both Puritans and Pilgrims have reputations as authoritarian, humorless, and conformist in their beliefs, but this stereotype characterizes the Puritans (who later in the century went on to conduct the Salem witch trials) more than the Pilgrims, who were much more democratic and inclusive in style. For example, the Pilgrims did, indeed, befriend local Native Americans, although it is unclear whether this pact was motivated by feelings of brotherhood or an arrangement for mutual self-defense.
Both Pilgrims and Puritans would probably be appalled that they are lumped together in Americans’ consciousness today. Puritans would probably consider Pilgrims to be hopeless idealists, and too tolerant of dissent; Pilgrims would probably have deemed Puritans intolerant of others, and too timid to sever their links to the Anglican Church.
The two groups’ different attitudes toward religion and democracy were reflected in their apparel choices. It was the Puritans who dressed the way Pilgrims are often depicted — with dark, somber clothing. Pilgrims, on the other hand, dressed much like their counterparts in England at the time. They did not consider it a sin to wear stylish or colorful clothing — indeed, several of the men who made the original trip on the
Mayflower
were in the clothing or textile trade. Many dyes were available to the Pilgrims, and they favored bright clothing — wills, provisions lists, written inventories, contemporaneous histories, and even sparse physical evidence all indicate that male
Mayflower
passengers wore green, red, yellow, violet, and blue garments along with the admittedly more common white, gray, brown, and black ones. The Pilgrim men wore many different types of hats, including soft caps made of wool or cloth, straw hats, and felt hats with wide brims. Wealthier Pilgrims might have worn more elaborate silk hats with decorative cords or tassels — but nary a buckle in sight.
We contacted Caleb Johnson, a Mayflower descendant who has written the 1,173-page book
The Complete Works of the Mayflower Pilgrims
and hosts a Web site devoted to all things Pilgrim at
So it is with more than a little feeling of righteous vengeance that we report that we were sold a bill of goods. Pilgrims might have worn hats, and those hats might have even been tall. But they were rarely black and never had a buckle on them.
How were generations brainwashed into thinking that Pilgrims wore buckled hats? For many Americans, there is confusion between the Pilgrims and Puritans. The two groups weren’t totally unrelated: Both were early settlers in America in the early seventeenth century, and both groups fled England to escape what they considered to be an authoritarian and tyrannical Anglican Church, the state-sponsored religion of their government.
But in spirit, the two groups were far apart. The Pilgrims were separatists, who wanted to practice a simple religion without the rituals and symbolism that they felt had spoiled the “Protestant” church. Pilgrims first tried emigrating to Holland, but the poor economic conditions there, along with some religious intolerance, led one contingent to come to America. Approximately sixty of the one hundred passengers aboard the
Mayflower
were separatists (i.e., Pilgrims), and they settled in or near Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
Puritans, on the other hand, did not want to sever their relationship from the Anglican fold completely, but sought to “purify” the church. Puritans wanted to eliminate many of the reforms of the Protestant movement, and return the church to more traditional practices. Several hundred Puritans moved to America in 1629, and settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in what is now Cape Cod.
Both Puritans and Pilgrims have reputations as authoritarian, humorless, and conformist in their beliefs, but this stereotype characterizes the Puritans (who later in the century went on to conduct the Salem witch trials) more than the Pilgrims, who were much more democratic and inclusive in style. For example, the Pilgrims did, indeed, befriend local Native Americans, although it is unclear whether this pact was motivated by feelings of brotherhood or an arrangement for mutual self-defense.
Both Pilgrims and Puritans would probably be appalled that they are lumped together in Americans’ consciousness today. Puritans would probably consider Pilgrims to be hopeless idealists, and too tolerant of dissent; Pilgrims would probably have deemed Puritans intolerant of others, and too timid to sever their links to the Anglican Church.
The two groups’ different attitudes toward religion and democracy were reflected in their apparel choices. It was the Puritans who dressed the way Pilgrims are often depicted — with dark, somber clothing. Pilgrims, on the other hand, dressed much like their counterparts in England at the time. They did not consider it a sin to wear stylish or colorful clothing — indeed, several of the men who made the original trip on the
Mayflower
were in the clothing or textile trade. Many dyes were available to the Pilgrims, and they favored bright clothing — wills, provisions lists, written inventories, contemporaneous histories, and even sparse physical evidence all indicate that male
Mayflower
passengers wore green, red, yellow, violet, and blue garments along with the admittedly more common white, gray, brown, and black ones. The Pilgrim men wore many different types of hats, including soft caps made of wool or cloth, straw hats, and felt hats with wide brims. Wealthier Pilgrims might have worn more elaborate silk hats with decorative cords or tassels — but nary a buckle in sight.
We contacted Caleb Johnson, a Mayflower descendant who has written the 1,173-page book
The Complete Works of the Mayflower Pilgrims
and hosts a Web site devoted to all things Pilgrim at
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