Thanksgiving Then and Now
I helped one of my first graders cut out a feather and staple it to a headband after he had colored the elongated piece with different colors. The girls got into the festivities and asked if American Indian girls wore feather head dresses. Of course they did! I had to talk some of the other boys and girls into making black and white cutouts for Pilgrim hats and collars. Since then, we have learned that the clothing of the Pilgrims did not fit the stereotype that we once had for the Thanksgiving fashions.
This vignette happened almost 50 years ago when I was teaching first grade at Dalmatia Elementary School in Dalmatia, Pennsylvania. Was the activity educational? Sure it was! And, even more so today, as we look back at how the Thanksgiving activities were once taught. We simplified things back then, with the Indians and Pilgrims helping each other out of kindness. Still, one part of the story remains the same: Families comprised of different peoples giving thanks to a creator for their survival.
Boy dressed as a Pilgrim at school. Credit: Flickr/Casey Fleser
I remember small groups of our Hagenbuch family getting together in Mom’s kitchen. These grew into larger groups as our family expanded. We welcomed spouses to be part of the family and then grandchildren. Once in a while, aunts and uncles would be present along with grandparents. Decorations were laid out along the table as Mom—Irene (Faus) Hagenbuch (b. 1920)—decorated with flowers and ceramic turkey salt and pepper shakers made by our aunt Catherene (Faus) Lowe (b. 1922).
Yes, there was a real turkey too. More important than the ceramic ones was the bird itself, hot out of the oven, and surrounded by side dishes of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn from our own fields, peas from our garden, and filling (or stuffing as some called it) made from Mom’s homemade bread. As the bird was presented on the platter, my father, Homer (Sechler) Hagenbuch (b. 1916) would offer up a prayer which we never could quite understand, since it was mumbled (no disrespect intended). We all listened with cocked, reverent ears to:
Father in heaven, bless these provisions before us. Feed our souls with the bread of life, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Ceramic turkey salt and pepper shakers
The turkey was a fowl that none of us farm people ever really observed in the wild—at least that I can remember. We always purchased a domestic one from the grocery store or we bought the turkey from a local farmer. The bird would have been covered by white feathers and was almost as tame as a chicken. In fact, there were times at Thanksgiving that we did not even take the time to purchase a turkey. Mom just threw two fat chickens in the oven and served the usual sides. Sometimes unusual dishes were served too, such as cooked onions and different soups.
Always falling on the fourth Thursday in November, it was a usual day of work in the morning, milking the cows, and barn work without field work. Everyone got washed up for the large Thanksgiving lunch, which we called dinner. Dessert was pie and, perhaps, a cake; but the pies were the main attraction and included shoofly and pumpkin. I am sure there was apple and peach too.
A shoofly pie fresh out of the oven, 2024
Afterwards, the table was cleared and the leftovers were put away for supper. There was conversation about, you guessed it, what was left to do outside: light barn work and maybe even cleaning out a few cows’ stalls. Conversation also centered around what to expect for the next few days, since school was out Thursday through Monday. The cool fall weather ushered in a wave of important farm work before winter.
Jumping ahead 60 years to November 28, 2024, when a different group of family gather in my Colonial Room at my home in Dillsburg, PA. The room is located in a detached building we call the barn, which was finished in 2013. Fifteen of us joined together there for Thanksgiving: my wife, Linda; our three children and their spouses; our five grandchildren; and Linda’s brother and his wife. The Colonial Room is filled with memorabilia from my many historic reenactments and living history experiences. It’s a bevy of 18th century sights! The meal was basically the same as what I grew up with and included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, cranberries, and pies for dessert. Many of the sides were spruced up, modern versions of the traditional recipes I knew on the farm.
Preparing to serve Thanksgiving dinner in the Colonial Room at the Hagenbuch house, 2024
The main focus at this time of year is family, and we come together to reap the Lord’s blessings. Each year, we reunite as a family and observe how the faces have changed over time. But what we share is the same: the prayer of thanks, the abundant foods, and the after dinner conversation which goes on and on throughout the day. Now, at my family’s Thanksgiving, there is no farm work afterwards to consider. What has taken its place are the joyful voices of loved ones and squeals of laughter from grandchildren. This is truly a time of blessings and thanks.
