The History of Cranberries

by Aliza Davis | November 19, 2023

You may not know it yet, but Vaccinium macrocarpon may be on your Thanksgiving table this year. No, it’s not a virus or bacteria – it’s the botanical name for the American cranberry. Since it is the time for Thanksgiving, I thought it would be neat to share a little about this seasonal berry. 
Native Americans would mix deer meat with crushed cranberries to make “pemmican” - - a food that kept for a long period of time. The juice from the berry was used in poultices- soft, moist masses of material, typically of plants or flour, applied to the body kept in place with a cloth. This poultice was used to extract poison from arrow wounds and probably helped with inflammation and soreness too.  
Cranberries have had a variety of different names. The Eastern Indians called them “sassamenesh”. The Nauset people (Cape Cod-area Natives) and South Jersey Lenni-Lenape tribe named them “ibimi” or bitter berry. The Algonquins of Wisconsin called the fruit “atequa.” German and Dutch settlers came up with the name “crane berry” because the vine blossoms resembled the neck, head, and beak of a crane. 
The cranberry is one of only small amount of fruits native to North America – the concord grape and blueberry being the others. Thanks to recorders of history, documentation proved that the cranberry was grown and harvested in Dennis, Massachusetts (on Cape Cod), in 1816. This is the first recorded harvest in cranberry history. 
                                                       
-Cranberry fun facts-

Back in the days of wooden ships and iron men, American ships carried in cranberries. The English loved limes and American sailors craved cranberries. The cranberry supplied a good amount of Vitamin C, which helped prevent scurvy- an ailment that left you with bleeding gums and wounds reopening. Scurvy plagued the American sailor, who was often poorly nourished. 

During World War 2, American troops required about one million pounds of dehydrated cranberries a year.

Did you know that there are 440 cranberries in one pound, 4,400 cranberries in one gallon, and 440,000 cranberries in a 100-pound barrel? That’s a lot of cranberries!  

I hope you enjoyed learning about cranberries as much as I did. 

Happy Thanksgiving and 
God bless!