The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-12-03
THANKSGIVING FIFTY YEARS
AGO.
Interesting "reminiscences Regarding
the Way the Day Was Observed

the Way the Day Was Observed.
Speaking Of Thanksgiving recently,
the Hon. John T. Wait, the venerable
et' congressman, said: Tile obser-
vance Of Thanksgiving has changed
very nrck since l was 1t boy. The day
| has lest ,nucE of It's significance as
religious festival, III the old days eve
~ oni went to meeting in til" forenoon,
this being considered as necessary as to
attend service on the Sabbath.
Then followed the big dinner, and af-
ter this the social hour in the afternoon.
Thanksgiving was the time for family
reunion, either at the homestead with
the old folks, or with some newly mar
ried son or daughter. All the children
and grandchildren gathered, and the
younger members of the family made
the occasion a merry one by their roll
licking, games and laughter.
In the evening came the great bon
fires, for which, said Colonel Wait,
Norwich boys bought, begged or stole
barrels and boxes.
These fires were lighted on the hills,
| and were Norwich custom long before
my time
William Tubbs of Norwich Town, who
| is eighty-one years of age, also lament
ed that the day is not celebrated SO gen
orally now as it was fifty or sixty years
| ago. In those days all work was pro-
hibited on Thanksgiving day, the same
as on Sunday; and even out-of-door
games were not allowed during the day,
so that the boys, If they wished to play,
had to sneak off to the lots and woods.
| All the churches had service in the
morning, and although the congrega-
tons were not as large as on Sunday,
there would be very good attendance.
| The men and the younger members OF
the family would surely attend meet
ing, even if the women folks stayed at
home and busted themselves with the
| dinner.
| The dinner, Of course, was great
event. All of the members If the fami-
| ly would come from far ard near, and
| one would have to live a long distance
away indeed not to get back to the OH
home on Thanksgiving. Often four and
sometimes five generations would lie
| rcpl eseEted at the feast.
| The dinner would consist of roast tur-
key, roast goose, roast duck, roast beef,
| roast pork, chicken pie, mince and
| pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce.
| Mrs. Tubbs, who had been listening to
what her husband said, remarked that
| she believed that even the climate had
| changed; for in the old days the wealth
er was always very cold on Thanksgiv-
| ing day and there was often excellent
sleighing.
| For many years it used to be GUS
-. ~ VII oiyyi,, ty
evening at the Hyde Tavern, Franklin,
to whitn the young people would gath
err for miles around large numbers at
tending from Norwich Landing" as
what is now the business portion of the
| city was called.
Colonel Edwin Palmer of Broadway,
who spent his early life in Preston.
talked interestingly of old-fashioned
Thanksgiving there. Regarding the
religious observance of the day he said
he didn't remember that it was very
general, although all the churches held
services His father lived three miles
from the church and members of the
family would always go, but 1t was not
considered necessary to attend.
The dinner was a great affair and all
| the members of the family were pres
| emit Usually there was something on
the table of everything raised upon the
| farm. Besides roast turkey there would
be roast beef, baked pork, roast duck
and goose, chicken pie, several varieties
| of pastry, besides sauces of all kinds.
! Speaking of the cooking, Colonel Pal
| mer told how the articles were pre-
| pared, so different from present Gus
| toms. The ofd-fashioned fireplace was
universally used sixty or SEVENTY years
ago, and the turkey was roasted by be-
| ing suspended on a cord in front of the
| fire. 1t had to be cor stantly turned to
cook even, and the bird was basted with
I drippings caught in a pan underneath
CT the hearth.
| The baking was done in an oven built
into one side of the fireplace. In the
wen were placed large Quantities OF
pies, which were perfectly baked. Of
ten the mince pies for the winter were
baked at this time and the pantry
shelves We're lined with three dozen
pies at a time.
| Nothing was burned in the fireplace
but logs, oak being commonly used.
In the large fireplace a log six feet long
and over a foot in diameter would be
rolled in and a fire started with the
aid of smaller logs called front and
| back sticks. These logs would burn
two or three days and sometimes
| longer.
After the dinner the family would
visit In the big kitchen around the
fireplace. If the weather CHANGED to be
very severe, while their faces were
toasted their spinal columns were in
the condition of Klondike's icy noun
tains, and frequent turning round to
get thawed out might be necessary.
The remainder of the day was spent
quietly as a general thing, although
sometimes a wedding would take place,
affording exceptional pleasure for the
gathering.-Norwich Bulletin.
A ctyryI-y CtyrS