1783 What a Thanksgiving Day that must have been, when, in 1783, after the treaty of peace was signed between England and the victorious, newly born "United States, each family welcomed home its heroes! Not a flag in the land but waved that day in token of triumphant joy. In the words of the proclamation itself the day was set apart, "That, at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts and consecrate themselves to the Service of the Divine Benefactor." It was many years later before they permitted amusement and recreation to find place in the national holiday, but on this joyous occasion a deep and solemn joy, an overwhelming sense of gratitude, made mere amusement seem trivial. Happy people need few pleasures! FIFTY YEARS AGO No picture of domestic happiness can outdo that of a thorough-going New England Thanksgiving Day of fifty or sixty years ago. It warms the heart to think of it. Each homestead gathered its scattered members, from far and near, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings. Everything in house and garden was in perfect order and holiday trim to receive them, and orchard, poultry-yard, garden, cellar, and storeroom were laid under contribution for their best and choicest for the feast. Grandfather and grandmother were metaphorically pedestalled in honour, and all conspired to do them reverence. Sleighs and carryalls arrived the day before the festal one, laden with uncles, aunts, and merry cousins, who were all tucked away under the elastic roof-tree. What joy it was for the elders to meet again at home! What interest felt in one another's welfare! What pleas ure to recall old times together! It was the apotheosis of family life. "When the care-wearied man sought his mother once more, And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before." The youths and maidens enjoyed the pleasant cousinly intercourse that combines the freedom of kinship with the charm of the unfamiliar, and the rollicking youngsters made the rafters ring with noisy glee. The next morning, after devout and decorous attendance at the meeting-house, they returned to enjoy the bountiful midday dinner, the preparation of which was not left to the uncertain skill of any hired domestic without the intelligent supervision of one of the family. Happily there are many still living whose memories can furnish the menu on such an occasion. After a soup of clams or chicken, the turkeys in state were brought in, one boiled, the other roasted. This last was not baked in an oven, as in these degenerate days, but was roasted before the fire. Rutabaga turnips, squash, beans, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, succotash, chicken pie-all were placed on the table at once, after which the children's eyes sparkled at sight of deep, luscious pumpkin and mince pies, baked in oblong dishes -and the famous "pandowdy." Grapes, pears, apples, and nuts followed, and then, after a devout "grace" pronounced by the family patriarch, the party scattered in the directions that their several tastes might dictate The men visited the barns, gardens, and pens; the women chatted in the house and compared recipes, needlework, and children, while the young folk went for a ride in a straw-filled wagon or sledge, and the youngsters frolicked in the hay, or coasted. All met again in the evening around the wide hearth after a substantial supper. Old stories renewed their youth, and personal adventures acquired a more vivid. interest in that homely, sympathetic atmosphere, while the cider circled round. The children parched corn, cracked nuts, and ate apples, already oblivious of the Gargantuan banquet with which they had so recently been regaled. The national holiday was indeed unique-chosen from religious motives and celebrated in the household among those that loved each other. TWENTIETH-CENTURY THANKSGIVING DIN NER In the year of grace, 1903, a Thanksgiving dinner was given in New York by a descendant of the Puritans, to twenty-four of her kinsfolk-a dinner which was significant of the increase of luxury in our country and its almost boundless resources. The hostess had been mindful of Henry Ward Beecher's ideal celebration-"A Thanksgiving dinner represents everything that has grown in the lavish summer and all the largess of autumn to make glad the heart of man." In the centre of the table was a huge pumpkin, hollowed out, filled and wreathed about with yellow chrysanthemums, at either end a sheaf of ripe wheat, in the centre of which bloomed more chrysanthemums, while horns of plenty, made of very fine straw, were at the four corners. Out of these, among many vine-leaves in overflowing profusion, peeped hothouse peaches and grapes, pears, Florida oranges, bananas, apples, wild grapes, lady apples, California plums, and green filberts. At each place was a small bonbonnière covered with strips of red, white, and blue satin ribbon, each containing besides the national nut-candies, five grains of corn, in memory of the starvation times of New England. The menu was a twentieth-century adaptation of the traditional fare-the "age of ease," reminiscencing over "the youth of labour" and its arduous and frugal past: Blue-point Oysters Terrapin Soup Lobster-Crabs Roast Turkey stuffed with Chestnuts Boston Baked Beans and onions Canvas-back Duck with celery salad The large pumpkin pie was wreathed with golden chrysanthemums, and, besides the cider, only California wines were served. In contrast to these opulent doings, a merry family party sat at a table-the decorations of which had taxed little besides home talent and ingenuity. The centrepiece was composed of three horns of plenty, placed "back to back," filled with apples, oranges, grapes, and the little rosy spheres called lady-apples, with laurel leaves, which resemble their natural foliage. The horns were evolved out of green tissue-paper twisted into strands and braided basket-fashion, on frames of picture-wire. Nuts and nut-candies filled four small dishes, and old-fashioned brass candlesticks held candles without shades. The dinner was simple, but that best of sauces-good appetite-was not lacking, and "what they wanted in wit, they made up in laughter": Oyster Soup Creamed Codfish in a ring enclosing ball potatoes, dusted with chopped parsley Roast Turkey Cranberry sauce, succotash, sweet potatoes, and onions Pumpkin Pie After dinner, a huge tin cup was placed on the table and with much ceremony a white ribbon was laid across it, upon which in gilt lettering one read, "My cup runneth over." All were invited to compete for a prizeto be given to the one who should write the longest or best and most thoughtful list of God's gifts for which he or she had cause to be thankful. These were to be written upon slips of paper, signed, and dropped one by one into the cup. It set every one's mind at work to "count up de marcies," and the cup was soon crammed to overflowing, while all began to realise the truth of— "How much the happy days outweigh the sorrowful!" There was a separate prize for the children, and one small boy headed his list with "Glad I ain't a gurl!" AFTER-DINNER AMUSEMENTS FOR THANKSGIVING DAY The Thanksgiving hostess is not relieved of responsibility after the dinner has been enjoyed, for her guests have still to be entertained, and something must be done to dispel the lethargy that is apt to follow the feast. A little game that provides occupation and a mild. interest without taxing the mind is best to begin with. |