Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-11-28
OLD TIMES RECALLED
"REMINISCENCES OF THANKSGIVINGS
LONG AGO.

Old and Young Shared In the Prepara-
tions-welcoming the Guests-Mirth and
Jollity Sat at the Board-The Charm of
the Day Is Departing.
The Thanksgivings of tho present
time may be more refined, more stylish,
than those of half century ago. but no
style Or elegance can give our young
people or their parents the exhilaration
or the happiness of the Thanksgiving
that I recall of more than 70 years ago
Let me for a little while imagine my
self a young girl Will you go with
me, gentle reader, to 'Bullartl's Hill, >"
in Massachusetts,, and enter large, COM
modious house, with unlimited room
for ten happy children and many guests
besides?
The door swings open, and the chill
dren rush in from school in boisterous
mirth, tossing books and garments on
the table.
"Hurrahl No more school this week,
for it is Thanksgiving. Now, what shall
we do to help you, map
"Now, set us all to work to help you,
ma.
"Put your books on their shelves and
your garments i'll their proper places
first, and then we will find you plenty
to do, said the gentle mother The
help that the children could give was
plainly pointed out and cheerfully en-
tered upon. The turkeys, chickens and
ducks were to be killed and carefully
dressed by the elder boys The raisins,
fruit and other material. for pies, the
cake, biscuit and bread were allotted
to the girls under the mothers super
vision, and this gave full employment
for one day and was accomplished with
cheerful, happy hearts in, joyful antici
patton of the full consummation of their
labors on the happy Thanksgiving day.
Why does the return of that day now
bring SO little of the delightful exhilara-
tion and charms that both old and
young experienced in the ''long ago?"
The next days work for the boys was
to bring wood and to keep two large
brick ovens heated to accomplish all the
baking that could he properly attended
to before the longed for day dawned for
them all
The work is done, and all are ready
The table, extending the full length of
the large dining room, ''groans with
costly piles of food' and sends out a
most appetizing welcome to the guests
and family, who now file in from the
parlor and take their seats Then the
carving is begun, and all understand
that there is to be no haste. They come
to partake not only of the abundance
with which the table is loaded, but also
Of the richer enjoyment of loving So
cial intercourse, in which the voices of
the youngest, with all their frolic and
merriment, can join without rebuke.
The carving finished and the plates
well filled, there is of course less con-
versation, but the demands of appetite
do not check the pleasant jests and
sportive repartees that are constantly
passing from one to the other, making
the feast most jubilant.
Now the first course is removed, and
as the children volunteer to aid in that
work the sport and fun that they bring
to the work seems to furnish infinite
amusement for the guests. Did you ever
notice how much more brilliant jests
and repartees appear to be after hearty
meal, Or at least how little disposed the
listeners are to criticise even poor at
tempt at fun?
Well, after such surfeit of turkey,
chickens, ducks and the many little
delicaeies that help to fill the table,
what more can be expected or disposed
of? But whoever heard of Thanksgiv-
ing dinner without the plum pudding,
the rich mince pies and pies of squash,
custard and apple, together with fruits
of all kinds, the tea and coffee, with
the richest cream and cheese that would
fill our modern cheesemakers with envy?
The candles (no gas or lamps in those
days. were lighted long before the hap
py circle rose from the table and ad
journed to the parlor.
After pleasant hour in the parlor,
while the dining room was being put
in order, all returned to it to crack and
eat nuts, with fine apples; to play with
the children the games that now we
seldom hear of---blind mans buff, hunt
the slipper, fox and geese, etc.-or to
hear from the grandparents stories con-
nected with the old French and Indian
war or the later one of the Revolution.
Mrs. FL. W. Beecher in Golden Rule.