The
Paper Memories of Thanksgiving
By Robert Reed
The grand holiday of Thanksgiving
has been celebrated in many ways over the decades, and a surprising
amount of it remains in memories of paper.
Trade cards, holiday postcards, magazine covers, menus, and colorful
decorations have all faithfully carried the enduring Thanksgiving
theme nationwide.
Historians have long noted that President George Washington delivered
an address proclaiming the first official Thanksgiving Day in November
1789. The event reportedly was already an established occurrence
in much of New England Published accounts say it was a copy of that
Washington proclamation which prompted President Abraham Lincoln
to renew observation of the event during the Civil War. The paper
copy was said to have been sent to Lincoln by Sara Josepha Hale
of Philadelphia.
 Short
decades later merchant's lithographed trade cards were occasionally
paying tribute to the all-American holiday. The Singer Sewing Machine
company wished customers a "Happy Thanksgiving" with printed
cards bearing embossed images of fruits and vegetables. While Christmas
was a much more dominate theme for such trade cards, there were
a few Thanksgiving choices including Singer, and Acme Stove Company
during the 1880s and 1890s.
Thanksgiving was richly represented in the wave of holiday postcards
which were introduced early in the 20th century. Enamored by the
vivid images and the ease of mailing, Americans flooded the postal
service with such cards. The turkey was an obvious symbol, as were
Pilgrims, and the scene of the dinner table. Additionally many of
the Thanksgiving postcards included patriotic motifs involving the
U.S. flag, Uncle Sam, and spangled banners. Major artists of such
postcards included Ellen Clapsaddle, Frances Brundage, Bernardt
Wall, and H. B. Griggs whose works often included their name. However
the major of Thanksgiving postcards were not signed.
 By
the 1920s the public moved on to folded greeting cards complete
with their own envelope for marking holidays. Such greeting cards
were certainly more expensive than earlier postcards but were considered
more stylish for the decades that followed.
During the 1920s and 1930s there were entire catalogs filled with
Thanksgiving and other holiday decorations made almost entirely
of paper. In 1924 one wholesale company offered dozens of Thanksgiving
place cards, tally cards, paper napkins, and table covers. All were
described as "nicely lithographed" and many came with
appropriate amounts of crepe paper for further decorating. One of
the company's most popular table decorations was the Jack Homer
Pie that included a large pumpkin and a large turkey. Other 12 to
14 inch alternatives included the Haywagon Pie, and the Horn of
Plenty Pie. Other decorations came with celluloid kewpie dolls including
Kewpie Thanksgiving Chef wearing a cook's apron and cook's hat.
 "Thanksgiving
assortments are given our special attention," noted the vintage
catalog, "and we are sure they will prove most satisfactory."
A major force in the production of holiday-related paper goods in
the early 20th century was the Dennison Company. The firm manufactured
an enormous variety of paper tableware. They also offered numerous
booklets and other publications with instructions for paper decorating
inside the home. Even more imaginative was the Beistle Company which
produced clever cardboard and honeycombed paper combinations of
turkeys, Pilgrims, pumpkins, and similar seasonal items. Beistle
marketed a remarkable selection of centerpieces and wall decorations
throughout the 20th century.
National magazines often featured Thanksgiving themes as seasonal
covers during the first half of the 20th century. Initially the
covers were illustrated with the basic elements of the holiday including
the pumpkin, turkey, and harvest basket Gradually such magazine
covers became more elegant with the distinguished works of artists
such as J.C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell.
Generally it was Leyendecker's work which was more dominant in the
1930s, especially on the richly illustrated covers of the Saturday
Evening Post. Meanwhile in the midst of the Great Depression of
that same era, Collier's magazine used a Thanksgiving cover by Emmett
Watson.
That 1931 holiday issue also included a Thanksgiving editorial.
Collier's told readers:
"If we have jobs and earnings let's give thanks and share what
we have with those less fortunate. If we are without surplus or
resource we can take some comfort in the knowledge that our plight
is understood and that our friends and neighbors are sensitive to
human need and eager to relieve it."
Ironically one of the most unique forms of Thanksgiving paper collectibles
came from the Civilian Conservation Corps which were formed to provide
work for the jobless during the latter 1930s. Various CCC often
celebrated the holiday when their own program or menu for the special
event and typically they were based on the efforts of an untrained
camp artist.
In 1935 The Giant Thanksgiving Book appeared in the market. Written
by Lenore Hetrick the volume contained, "recitations, songs,
readings, pantomimes, drills, novelties, pageants, and plays...all
ages." The 284 page book was published by Paine Publishing
Company of Dayton, Ohio.
Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving covers were probably more dominate
on national magazine covers in the 1940s. They were especially popular
during the years of World War II and often related to those in military
service as the holiday was observed. Rockwell as also responsible
for the Four Freedom posters issued in 1943. Among the four, which
were printed in three different sizes, was Freedom From Want which
featured Mom and Pop serving a traditional turkey dinner.
During that same decade Life magazine published one of their few
Thanksgiving issues, and the First Thanksgiving Book written by
Lois Lenski Barksdale was published by the Knopf company. Thanksgiving
was also one of several holidays featured on street car and bus
line pass/tickets for American cities including Washington, D.C.
in that era.
In the decades that followed Thanksgiving was still a steady theme
for magazine covers but probably without lavish artistry of before.
Jack and Jill, the children's publication, continued to feature
Thanksgiving on the front of their November issues during the 1950s
and 1960s. In 1966 the cover also made mention of Macy's Thanksgiving
Day parade in New York City. Two years later the New York Daily
Newspaper carried a full page advertisement for still enormously
popular holiday parade.
According to the original advertisement itself the parade promised
appearances by:
"Superman balloon, Smokey the Bear, Shirley Jones, Jack Cassidy,
William Shatner, Jerry Vale, Bullwinkle, Johnny Whittaker, Bobby
Vinton, Snoopy, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse." Today even
the newspaper advertisement of 1968 merits interest among collectors
who search for paper memories of Thanksgiving.
©
2009 Mountain States Collector
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