Giving Thanks

Dear Lee,

Did you know that Thanksgiving hasn’t always been on the fourth Thursday of November? On Dec. 26, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a bill making the date for the federal Thanksgiving Day observance. It’s still the legal date for a traditional turkey dinner and a big New York City parade. But go back 159 years and find that George Washington first declared a “Day of public Thanksgiving.” He picked the last Thursday of November, November 28, 1782. Abraham Lincoln in 1863 proclaimed the day to be the last Thursday. That lasted until 1939. FDR that year moved it to the third Thursday with all the best intentions: He wanted to expand the Christmas shopping season and help bring the country out of the Depression.

Thanksgiving collectibles aren’t as popular as Christmas or Halloween items, but collectors can find ceramic, glass, pottery, paper and wooden turkeys, Indians and pilgrims. They also decorate postcards, textiles, platters, candle holders, salt and pepper shakers (one of my favorites!) and candy containers.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together with family to enjoy good conversation and good food.

Silly Thanksgiving turkey decorations can add some humor to a table, too. But sometimes it can be taken too far. A friend invited a high school chum and her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her home. The friend brought dessert. She arrived with ice cream cake in the shape of a turkey on a platter. The artistry was amazing: the cake was decorated with very shiny frosting. It was TOO realistic. We all looked at it with hidden horror. No one ate it. All of us claimed to be too full from dinner to eat dessert.

My ice cream turkey calamity was at a large family gathering in my parents’ dining room when I was in elementary school. There were no freezers, the ice cream was kept in a pile of dry ice bought the day before. The dishes were cleared, the ice cream turkey was brought to the table, but the serving piece couldn’t cut it. Neither could a saw. It was solid ice. It didn’t defrost enough to eat till the next day!

Happy Thanksgiving!