If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed planning a July 4 th picnic or barbecue, take heart: things could be a lot worse. You could be preparing for 2,000 guests, like they did at a Whig Conference in Bladenburg, MD in 1840 or in 1855 on Meeting House Hill in Dorchester, MA.

Fourth of July celebrations have been part of the landscape for almost as long as we've been a nation. Americans love to party, especially when there's lots of great food involved!

In those days, before carb, calorie and fat monitoring, the fare was hearty, to say the least. How do pig roasts that ran the length of Broadway sound? Both sides of this stretch of New York's prime real estate were lined with stands offering the delicacy. Is turtle soup more to your liking? It was a favorite of the Charleston, SC populace, before turtles became an endangered species and a no-no as a soup ingredient. Roasted ox was quite the northeastern favorite, as was the free ice cream available to those who couldn't afford to buy it.

Even the hardy folk on the frontier enjoyed their holiday repast. Newspaper articles described a meal of ham, beans, biscuits, johnny cakes and other similar treats served at Fort Laramie. Sounds kind of familiar, huh?

Separation of the sexes was a given at many of the celebrations. Typically, females were not invited to association or society dinners. Not to be outdone, however, they responded by organizing their own events. Perhaps born of an innate, timeless need to count calories, their celebrations tended to be teas and picnics.

If you attend a barbecue or celebration in your town and the mayor rises to say a few words, he or she is only following in the footsteps of history. It's a widely-held belief that America's first political parties were formed by orators at July 4 th gatherings.

John Adams wrote correctly to wife Abigail his prediction that Independence Day "would be celebrated with pomp, parade, bonfires and illumination from one end of the continent to the other."

So, bite into your burger or down your dog with a sense of history - we've been celebrating the Fourth of July with a feast for more than 200 years now - God Bless America!