Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1920 — HAS BEEN CHANGE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAS BEEN CHANGE

Oldtinier Talks of Past Thanksgiving Days. Thinks Religious Character of Celebration Not So Generally Dwelt On as It Was—Grandma’s “Thanksgiving weather may be the same as 4t alwajls has been," said the gray-haired, young-lodkfng man. “My own recollection is that 1 used to go skating almost every year on that day, but the weather bureau insists that the climate has not changed and I don’t dispute the point. “But one thing I’m Sure of —Thanksgiving day is not generally celebrated now as it used to be when I was a boy. For one thing, I don't believe many people have family prayers on that day, or any other, for that matter, but 50 years ago it was a very irreligious family indeed who did hot

hold a special Thanksgiving service of that kind. “Thanksgiving meals were things to remember. Those were the ‘good old days when doughnuts were made as big as bricks, and ’twas not thought necessary to eat as many as six,’ but the doughnut came between meals, and on Thanksgiving day they were not greatly in demand. “For breakfast we always had chicken with many ‘fixlns’ and pancakes and sweet cider for dessert. It was a meal for all day, but not long after noon we all gathered for the feast, and it was a small family that did not muster at least twenty strong. We all went home to grandpa’s, the last one ofns. Commonly every living member of four generations would be together for that day, no matter how scattered their homes might be. • “After dinner there’d be enough outdoor sport to raise an appetite for sii o’clock supper, and after supper indoor games among the young people till bedtime, but even the oldest were dragged Into the gfmes until they were tired out. “There may be families that keep up the old customs even yet, but I wouldn’t know where to look for them. Even if I did, I don’t suppose I’d be able to get any of the. mince and pumpkin pies., And if I should get any of them they wouldn’t be such as grandma used to make.”

Like Grandma Used to Make.