Page 9 - Scene Magazine November 2023 47-11

Scene Around Town
BY PETER PHELPS
delicious seasonal pies, and of course giving thanks for our many blessings. Looking back on Thanksgivings past, my grand parents counted their bless- ings, one by one, as each relative went home.
This got me to wonder, how did we decide that November would be set aside for this special occasion and all its trimmings? I did a little exploring, with the help of Ashley Leath, a research ed- itor for Country Living, and found some interesting facts.
Because baseball was such a big hit in the Motor City, George A. Richards, a Detroit radio executive, thought locals would get a kick out of football too so he purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans and moved the team to Detroit, renaming it the Detroit Lions. To promote his sport, he arranged for NBC to televise the first NFL Thanks- giving game in 1934. Sadly, the visiting Chicago Bears beat the Lions 19-16. Since then, the Lions have played every Thanksgiving on TV except during World War II. That’s quite the sporting tradition.
Fast forward to 1939. Because that year had five Thursdays in November, retailers pressed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to push the holiday back a week to the fourth Thursday so Ameri- cans would have more time for holiday shopping. We currently continue that custom.
I am guessing that based upon our history lessons, that the first Thanks- giving in the ‘Colonies’ took place
in Massachusetts around 1620, or it was 1621 when the Wampanoag tribe shared a harvest meal with the English emigres. Instead of ducks and geese as was normal fare for Europeans, the Na- tive Americans brought lobsters, clams, venison, and no doubt, eels. When you are hungry and visiting someone else’s home, you eat what is served. By the way, turkey wasn’t gobbled up until
American humorous Erma Bombeck made this observation, “Thanksgiving
Today as American families live farther apart, this holiday is even more important for us to gather. Ah, Thanks- giving... we may not have it all together, but together we can be Scene around town and the table and have it all. Wish- ing you the longer part of the wishbone. Happy Thanksgiving.
When someone says ‘Thanks- giving,’ you no doubt think about feasting on turkey, mixing the peas
the 1800s, and cranberries weren’t harvested from local bogs and turned into a condiment for another 50 years. (Don’t you love to hear that slurping sound of jellied cranberry sauce sliding out of the can?)
dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half- times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence.”
in your mashed potatoes with gravy, anticipating
After polishing off most of the bird and vegetables, including the giblets (liver, gizzard, neck, kidneys, and heart), what do you do with all the leftovers? You can thank Swanson’s Foods for this idea. In 1953, after ordering way too many turkeys, one of its sales people came up with the idea to package the ‘fowl’ meat, cornbread dressing, sweet taters, and peas onto trays... you know them better as TV dinners.
All this talk about Thanksgiving may be in part thanks to Sarah Josepha Hale. You may or may not know that she is the lady who scribbled the song ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ Anyway, Sarah felt that we Americans ought to pause to give thanks for all we have been given, so starting in 1846 she began peti- tioning our government to declare an official American Thanksgiving festival. In 1863, 17 years later, she persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national Thursday holiday. We can all be thankful for her persistence.
IN SUPPORT OF
Thanksgiving: An Affair to November
IN SUPPORT OF
IN SUPPORT
O
F
CONGRATULATIONS
Miles for Memories
We offer a variety of options for the most appropriate service, the most fitting farewell.
Calhoun County Prosecuting Attorney David Gilbert
(269) 969-6980
269-962-5527 • www.farleyestesdowdle.com • 105 Capital Ave., NE
BATTLE CREEK | AUGUSTA | RICHLAND
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