Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! It's always a good idea to think about the good things in our lives (sometimes we have to make an effort to do so). I am thankful for all of YOU, the best Junior Gorillas a fellow could ask for!
I have some fun vintage Thanksgiving photos for you, starting with this first cute snapshot, shared with us by our friend Sue B. (though this is not a "Lou and Sue" image). An impressively-large turkey hasn't been carved yet, but it will be. Any minute now! A cute little girl with curls might already be digging in to some mashed potatoes, which frankly is one of my favorite treats. Looking at the home decor, I am wondering about the date of this photo. I'd guess "sometime in the early 1970s" if I had to, what do you think? Thank you for sharing, Sue!
Next, it's 1954, and the whole family is raising a toast to the occasion. There's another stack of bread! Each person has a glass filled with some mystery substance and decorated with a lit candle, I wonder what that could be? It's too early for dessert. The glass nearest to us has a red chunk, perhaps it is fruit cocktail. The flocked pinecones hanging from the light fixture make me think that this could be a Christmas image, but the two holidays often blur into each other.
And finally, from Thanksgiving 1965 comes this photo. Mom appears to be serving up the chow. All three kids are wearing white, with what looks like brown... suspenders? Overalls? Kind of weird. The table is set up in the kitchen, for some reason. It's interesting to observe how different this scene looks from the others that were less than 10 years earlier.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day! I'm still out of town, but will talk to you all soon!
14 comments:
The second to last pic shows an unusual way to serve a turkey.....with a layer of carnations on top! ;-)
The mom in the last pic might have seen The Sound of Music earlier that year, and was inspired to make those matching outfits for her kids......out of her plain brown draperies. The kid in the red plaid shirt is obviously not a sibling, and did not warrant a matching outfit.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of the junior gorillas! Thanks for these special holiday pics, Sue and Major!
Major-
It's certainly possible the first image is from the early 70's, but if I had to vote I'd say the 60's is where it landed on the timeline.
Actually, I think those 'white, oval things' floating in the water glasses are eggs-! I'm afraid those drapes and wall paper pattern are making me want to run out of the room-!
I'm thinking those 'goblets' may be filled with fruit cocktail. (Now we know it's a fancy affair - especially if the group is toasting with Pillsbury Funny Face Drinks - probably [politically-incorrect] Injun Orange-!) Of course, Pillsbury won't launch the Funny Face line until 1964 - but don't let that interfere with my warped mind.
In the last image, I'm intrigued by the 'second' single-gang light switch, with plain ivory plate, positioned above [what I presume] to be an original light switch - with 'fancy', coffee percolator switch plate-! Hubba, hubba.
Thanks, Major (& Sue). And Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.
1) Looks like the early '70s to me too, Major. Yep, I know a '70s turkey when I see one. ;-)
Also, the hanging light fixture on the left is screaming early seventies... you all hear that screaming too, right?
Is that a butter churn next to the brick wall?
2) Wow, I've never seen wallpaper like that before, or any other trompe l'oeil style of wall covering. Trompe l'oeil is Olive Oyl's cousin from France... but y'all knew that, of course.
Not to be nitpicky, but I'm pretty sure this is a Christmas feast, not a Turkey-day feast; judging by the tablecloth design. No matter, the food's all the same... and the family gathering is all the same.
I'm having a hard time identifying the various foods: cranberry sauce is closest to us (that one's easy), not sure if that's sweet potatoes or peaches behind and to the right of the cranberries. No idea what that yellow stuff is to the left... figs? I think I see mashed potatoes, and that looks like corn in the blue bowl. What's in the clear glass dish on the right? Leaks? Celery sticks? Pickle spears? The rest of the dishes could be anything... caramel corn and exploded orange turkey.
3) Pretty sure your guess of fruit cocktail is correct, Major. The candles appear to be inserted into marshmallows. Kind of a neat idea, actually.
The lady reaching for the glass of milk has a band-aid on her thumb; must've got bitten by the turkey. Now, every Thanksgiving and Christmas she will turn into a wereturkey.
4) Those "suspenders" appear to be some sort of (homemade) pinafore dress. Wonder what's in those glasses, iced tea? Mulled cider? As Nanook noted, I also like the coffee pot light switch on the back wall.
Nanook, I also wondered if the 1st photo might be from the sixties. But we can't see the little girl's feet, to see if she's wearing go-go boots or not.
Thanks for the homey home-cooked photos, Sue and Major. And Thanks to all our extended GDB family.
Re-reading my comment, I meant leeks... not leaks... which is different.
Definitely fruit cocktail with a scoop of small curd cottage cheese - add a lit wax candle for a festive flair!!
FILE UNDER : obsolete dinner service appetizers.
Braised Celery Stalks : from the 1830’s to the 1940’s this was a common
Holiday dinner side dish ….. long replaced with starch based side dishes .
FILE UNDER : obsolete vegetable side dishes .
Aunt Millie’s Double Bourbon Ricky .
FILE UNDER : I’ll have one!!
My mom pulls out a class project I did in 4th grade “what I’m thankful for”
“I’m thankful for my parents ,my sister , Disneyland , Pete and the Dragon , King Kong , Star Wars .
***that’s how I wrote it : “Pete and the Dragon” ( Pete’s Dragon).
Happy Thanksgiving 2023 everyone !!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
These are a visual feast worthy of being thankful for.
The only time we ever got ice in our water glasses was Thanksgiving and Christmas. Come to think of it, those were the only meals we had ever had water glasses, too. Must have been some sort of formal home dinner convention. And I think maybe Mrs. Chuck does that as well. Will need to pay closer attention later today.
I agree that that third photo has a Christmas vibe to it. Aside from the pine cone and napkins, there’s a small box in the left background that appears to be decorated with poinsettias. The stack of bread was a critical component of the meal - you can’t make a toast without bread.
JB, good catch. A glass dish with leaks would probably be relegated to the trash.
Mike, those are truly things to be thankful for. You were probably being thankful for the characters of Pete and the Dragon, not the film itself.
I am thankful for all of you and the fun we have here every day. Happy Thanksgiving!
Now…where did we put the toaster and popcorn popper…?
Indeed, I’m thankful for Major P, GDB, and all the Junior Gorillas, both posting and lurking. A tiny island of sanity.
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all.
Photo 1 is a cute kid enjoying dinner. The pendant lamps and the table lamp look familiar. I’m trying to figure out the floor plan, we see a hearth-less fireplace through the door, with a butter churn (!). This room is cluttered and the fireplace doesn’t look like it’s very cozy or well used. The brick wall is probably the fireplace/chimney mass and another fireplace opening into the living room is probably backing up to the one we can see, either back-to-back or side-by side. I wonder if that room was once “outdoors” and later enclosed as a porch?
There’s a chance that photo 2 is Christmas, judging from the tablecloth pattern. The wallpaper reminds me of the tufted padding that some bars had on the doors, even the outside, which I always thought was weird. It’s very much a Norman Rockwell scene. I don’t recall ice being just a holiday thing, but I do recall it being a pain to make, aluminum ice trays with that weird metal separator with the lever. Now I just press the button and ice falls in my glass. It’s not the House of the Future, but I’ll take it. A china cup full of coffee, mom and dad always served coffee with the meal, not after, and never wine.
Photo 3, raise a toast to the fruit cocktail appetizer. There are some skewers with pimento-stuffed green olives waiting on the next round. I’m curious what they are drinking, little Timmy is reaching for his milk glass to play along. His very pretty Mom looks like the lady just at the end of table, must be Grandma. The table legs are exactly like my table today, and probably the same vintage.
Noticing the piles of sliced bread. We almost always had Parker house rolls or sometimes, those pillsbury roll up croissant rolls that came in a tube… and always margarine in a tub, “Nucoa-butter” as Grandad always called it.
Braised celery was definitely a thing. We still occasionally have Celery Victor, which is just braised celery with vinaigrette and Sauce Gribiche ( which is just a sieved hard-boiled egg). A savory dish, sounds fancy but easy to make, named for the long-time chef at the St. Francis Hotel in SF.
Thank you Major, the pictures evoke good memories indeed. I hope you and all the Junior Gorillas have a good time with family today. We will have a full house coming. Mrs. G is already (or still) laboring away, and I still have to put the table leaves in and pull the wines. Our daughter brought some special ones last night.
Cheers all!
JG
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Junior Gorillas and Major too!
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
I am of that certain age for which these pictures evoke memories of good times of the past. And I am thankful to have so many of them. That first picture...it is amusing to see such a big turkey for such a little gal. She may be smiling now but what will she think of havin turkey dinners and lunches for days to come? Not to forget that old standby...turkey soup. Yep...after that, once a year will do it. The third picture makes me think of my own situation as an only child. I found myself mixing with adults as much as my friends and never felt out of place.
Happy Thanksgiving. Now on with endless football games. I remember when there was only one on Thanksgiving. And the Lions always being the home team. Yep, time to recall the memories and smells and the laughter of togetherness. My folks would wait for me to end my shift at the Park before starting. In those days I recall the Park closed at 6 so we could all enjoy a home cooked meal. KS
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Nice holiday photos. Thanks to Sue & Major.
-DW
"Braised celery was definitely a thing. We still occasionally have Celery Victor, which is just braised celery with vinaigrette and Sauce Gribiche ( which is just a sieved hard-boiled egg)..."
JG, someone got that receipe screwed up...their hard-boiled eggs are still in their glasses.
Mike, that's sweet of your mom to hang onto your class project, all these years. She must really love you! Maybe almost as much as we do.
Thank you, Major, for hosting another fun Thanksgiving celebration. All your daily hard work is greatly appreciated. I, too, am very thankful for all the good times and laughs we all have together on GDB....thank you, Jr. Gorillas.
In today's parade (Whaddya mean, "what parade"?), the band Chicago appeared on the Wonder Bread float. Did anybody see THAT coming back in the 60s?
The water glassed with ice on holidays feels like a "put a kid to work to keep them out of trouble" task.
Nice to catch up on some family Thanksgiving pictures. I usually just fall asleep after getting home from the Macy's parade (flew the Baby Yoda balloon this year) so I often miss my own dinner.
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