The first Thanksgiving was around 1621

What was the working life back then? Most people would have been farmers and would have been at least partially self-sufficient. People grew their own food; men grew the crops, hunted, and fished. Women usually took care of the poultry and the dairy, did the milking, made butter and cheese, brewed the beer that most people drank instead of water (beer drunk for everyday use was very weak, not like modern beer). Women often made their own money by selling their surplus chickens, eggs, butter, cheese, beer etc. They also made household items like soap and candles. Women would spend a lot of time spinning flax or wool into thread to be woven into cloth, spinning was a very common female occupation in the pre-industrial era, the word ‘spinster’ was in common usage until quite recently to indicate an unmarried woman. Women were also expected to be the family doctors, and to make home remedies for illness.

The town would have specialized craftsmen like blacksmiths, carpenters, builders, weavers, potters, merchants etc. One of the most prestigious jobs a woman could do was to be a midwife. The midwife was an important person in the local community, as childbirth was an exclusively female business in those days.

Source: America’s Women, 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, helpmates and Heroines by Gail Collins