Thanksgiving & Family

Happy Thanksgiving

     Happy Thanksgiving from our home!

The family farm to which my husband and I have retired has hosted many Thanksgiving Dinners!  We are the fourth generation to call this farm home, and as a child I sat in the dining room pictured at right many times with my parents and brother Clark and a crowd of aunts, uncles, and cousins, grandparents and friends.  This week's post honors all of them and the gatherings of family and friends of all of you who follow this blog.

Among my childhood memories are the days when the Saturday Evening Post came in the mail.  My family would await its arrival so that we could discuss Norman Rockwell's cover illustration--and like many families, we discussed every detail.  With hindsight, I believe my parents often used his paintings to teach my brother and me important life lessons.  Because so much of Thanksgiving is about family, I thought Rockwell's A Family Tree was the perfect cover to share.  

Among Rockwell's fans are astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who wrote "His insightful work--often filled with optimism and humor--accurately and affectionally shows America and Americans at their best."  Or, Arnold Palmer, "To so many of us, the paintings of Norman Rockwell told the story of everyday America as nobody else ever has."  And, Dick Clark: "...he immortalized the simple things in life that mean so much to all of us, as well as some of the major changes that are about to happen in our world."  Norman Rockwell said of himself, "I am a story teller."

The image below is part of one of Rockwell's "Four Freedoms."  I recently finished reading David McCullough's The American Spirit, Who We Are & What We Stand For.  It is a thin book of 15 addresses given by McCullough at graduations and other occasions.  On November 22, 2013, he spoke in Dallas, Texas at a ceremony honoring John F. Kennedy, in which he recited several passages from Kennedy's Inaugural Address.  One section he quoted seemed to go particularly well with the Rockwell painting, "A Family Tree," and the spirit of Thanksgiving illustrated as one of America's  "Four Freedoms".

Kennedy said:  "This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds.  It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened...The heart of the question is...whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated."

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  My thanks to the many of you, those I know and those I have never met, who have followed my blog for so very many postings.  I am thankful for your support and the encouragement your comments have given me.

A part of one of Rockwell's 4 Freedoms

Celebrating Thanksgiving with Pigs and Pigskins

A cake for a genuine pig lover!

I thought perhaps you have seen enough pictures of turkeys and pumpkins!  Last week's blog thanked all of you for your continued support of my blog and let you know how thankful I am for your ongoing interest in Isaac B. Werner and the history of the Populist movement!

Those of you who are regular followers know just how difficult times were for farmers like Isaac, and he recorded in his journal many Thanksgivings when people had too little to put much of a Thanksgiving Dinner on the table.

However, one year a farmer of better means went through the neighborhood buying up every fat hog in the community the week before Thanksgiving.  He loaded all of the hogs on a train and shipped them East.  His enterprise gave a great many neighbors a little money in their pockets with which to afford a real Thanksgiving dinner.

I doubt if any of them gave up their traditional pumpkin pies for a "Pig Lover's Cake," although I hope they gave a little credit, and perhaps an unspoken thank you, to their poor pigs for their Thanksgiving feast.  Perhaps this year you should raise a toast to all the pigs over the years who gave their skin to producing footballs!

The Thanksgiving postcard at right is circa 1900!  The tradition of rival schools holding their annual football games on Thanksgiving Day was widespread.  Fans loved it.  Mothers and wives who were left at home to prepare the holiday feast weren't so fond of the Thanksgiving Day football game tradition!

However, one of the all-time great college rivalry games, Texas vs. Texas A&M, came to an end not because of complaints from the women left at home to cook but rather because of money!  A new contract for broadcasting Texas football ended the tradition with the 2011 game.

There have been many such rivalries over the years.  The University of Kansas and the University of Missouri played the first of their 19 consecutive Thanksgiving day games in Kansas City, MO, starting in 1892.  A Conference rule requiring games to be played on college campuses interrupted the tradition, although it was resumed in 1916 and continued into the 1940s.  Gradually college contests on Thanksgiving Day diminished, although many continue the tradition by scheduling games during the weekend following Thanksgiving.  

Many high school rivalries hold traditional contests around Thanksgiving, as well as decades old unorganized groups such as extended families, college fraternities, clubs, church groups, and other organizations who play "Turkey Bowls."

Professional Football teams have played on Thanksgiving from their inceptions.  This year the Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to play the Detroit Lions at 11:30 Central time on FOX; the L.A. Chargers will play the Dallas Cowboys at 3:30 Central on CBS; and the NY Giants will meet the Washington Redskins at 7:30 on NBC.  So, whether your family tradition plans Thanksgiving Dinner at noon, midday, or in the evening, chances are high that somewhere in the house the television will be tuned to a football game. 

I'm posting the blog early again this week, since the family cooks will probably be too busy cooking and washing dishes, pots and pans to read the blog tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day, and the football fans will be watching games from noon to nighttime!  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, wherever you are and however you spend your day.