The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-28
PREPARING FOR THE FEAST
TURKEYS, AS USUAL, WE'RE THE
FAYORPTES IN THE MARKET.
How the Poor Did Their Buying
Nobody Will Go Hungry Today.
Scenes and Incidents of the
Streets Last Night.

With perhaps the single exception of
the Fourth CT July there is no holiday
in the whole calendar so distinctively
American as Thanksgiving day.
Christmas and New Years were holt
days before America was discovered,
but Thanksgiving day is particularly
an American day. AS it occurs at al
most the opposite extreme of the cal
endar from the Fourth of July, so too it
differs from that day in very marked
manner. One is a day to stay at home
and the other is a day to go somewhere.
The small boy who has to stay at
home on the Fourth of July considers
it a terrible hardship while the one
who has to be from home on Thanks
giving day. unless it is to attend Som6
family reunion, is likewise unfortunate
Yes, Thanksgiving is q family day
and a peculiarly American day and I'M
no manner is it possible to get a better
insight into the true character and
condition of the American people than
to see how they celebrate the day, or
get ready to celebrate it. To do this
a Herald reporte- yesterday spent some
seemed most to congregate and OBJ
served the things bought and the man
ner in which they were bought and the
people that bought them.
The most popular places were the
provision stores and the most interest,"
ing places were the ones where fowls,
meats and all other necesSarieS for al
| Thanksgiving dinner were to be had
White & Sons Co. said turkeys were
In most demand Ducks and geese
came next. Chicken is just as good
as turkey to the taste" said one buyer.
but turkey is an American bird, and
besides, chicken is more common and
don't do for an uncommon day liks
tomorrow"
About the heaviest turkey that the re-
one establishment and at least three
| foUrths of them were turkeys.
"How are the prices. compared with
last year, the reporter asked.
THE price of turkeys were the same
this year as last. and the sales if any,
thing were a little heavier. So guess
the people are as well off as they
were last year. Chickens were 21A
cents per pound cheaper this year than
last"
About he heaviest turkey that the re-
porter saw sold was one magnificent
bird weighing twenty-five pounds. As
rule, however. the smaller
birds were most in demand. The
larger birds went to rich families
or to hotels and the bargaining for
them did not go on in the store. 1t
was the workingmen's wives that
thronged the store. The more aristo-
cratic people sent their orders from
home" said a. clerk.
Lots of oppossums were sold and
they generally went to a Southerner.
though the 'possum' meat was
shipped from Kansas. A lot of SPUR
rels from the same place found ready
sale. All the birds such as turkeys,
geese, ducks. chickens. quail and snipe
were from Utah.
Fish of all kinds sold we'll
An average sized turkey cost, ait is
cents per pound, about $1.25, and one
of these with % cents worth of cram
berries. some sweet potatoes and cell
cry, with a. few fruits, the whole bill
costing not more than $3.50. laid the
foundation of many a Thanksgiving
dinner. Thousands of pounds of veni-
son from southern Utah We're disposed
On the streets too one could have told
it was the day before a holiday even
if he had not known it. People r1ur-
ried along faster and chatted mors
gaily as a rule. Sometimes men
dropped into a reminiscent mood and
told of Thanksgivings past. One told
of about this time and about this
place in the early days when there
was not so much food in the whole
valley as might now be seen in one
goUd-sized store. The days when the
people had to eat sagoes were talked
ovar and those days contrasted with
these.
1t was noticed that the coins fell
into the cups of the organ grinders a.
little faster and were a little larger
than is usually the case: so that even
the blind and lame will have some
thing extra to be thankful for today.
Early in the evening a drizzling rain
was falling and the entire night was
wet and misty. but whether it storms
or shines today, unless all signs fail.
there will be a great many happy
homes in Salt Lake if good cheer and
plenty to eat can make them So