Evening star., 1941-11-18

Reebes among the PNgrlIns "o"'N
enjov. he sent ''foure men on 1o"Hl's'
50 that we might after 2 more spe
ciall manner rejoyce.' - This was tiie
plymouth Rock way OF teIIlng 'ile
bovs TO get going and bring oacA
something to eat.
It is to be assumed that the foul
h,,ptsmen brought back turkeys
and that is why I maintain they
should be commended and remem-
hered bv all of us when We nave
fought our way to the best places
at the table and settled down 70
making a one-day silo OF ourselves
Suppose Gov. Bradfords hunters
had run across moose ana oecloeu
that roast moose was the hitting
and proper main course for the
dinner? Tradition would have de-
manded wouldn't it, that the only
proper way for the families OF l94I
| to celebrate Thanksgiving would be
with the serving Of moose?
7. takes no housewife 10 picture
the problems of purchasing, pre-
pairing and serving an 8OO-pouno
moose. I know of very few kitchens
that have moose -roasters where tfe
animal could be cooked and served
whole. And think Of the task OF
plucking and singeing a moose. Ana
OF stufing a moose, Small OBJECTS
like oysters or chestnuts wouldn't
do at all. We would have to eat
dressing composed Of such tasty
morsels as steamer trunks. sofa
pillows, gateleg tables and waste
paper baskets.
Shopping for moose suitable Tor
family Of four, six or eight
wouldn't be easy, either. It's bad
enough settling on the right weight
turkey. II have known families
that have broken up over whether
to buy a I2-pounder for taste or
22-pounder for splendorl what
splendid arguments would rage over
whether to get a 455-pound moose
or shoot the works on one the size
of Seabiscuit. But as tough as
having the moose as our national
Thanksgiving dish would be on the
women Of the Nation, ii would be
worse On the men.
Not from the standpoint Of
money, either, although moose
would run pretty high, but from the
standpoint of having to have moose
in some form for a full six months
after Thanksgiving had passed.
1t is amazing how long house
wives can make the battered rem
nants of a turkey last. What they
couldn't do with an animal as large
as a moose. Let's see, there'd be
cold sliced moose the first two or
three days. Then would follow
moose hash, moose soup, fricasse OF
moose, barbecued antlers, until the
whole family would begin to take
on the characteristics OF the moose
and start locking horns just for
the fun Of it.
Even if Gov. Bradford's hunters
had not brought in moose, they
might have decided on bear or chip
munk instead Of turkey While both
would have been preferable 10
moose, somehow they just don't
seem TO At into the Thanksgiving
scene. Can you imagine asking
friends away from home to come
over on Thanksgiving and share
brown or cinnamon bear with you?
Or walking into a restaurant and
being greeted with a blue plate
Thanksgiving special that featured
roast young tom Of muskrat?
So, the four men whose names
have been lost in the march of the
years deserve special tribute
on Thanksgiving day, no matter
whether you observe the real one
or the one that President Roosevelt
cooked up one night when he didn't
have anything else to do in the
Lincoln room.
They brought back turkey. Turkey
that goes with cranberry sauce (and
when I say cranberry sauce I mean
the kind with the berries in 1t and
not that fool smooth stuff that Is a
fugitive from a tooth paste jar):
turkey that goes with squash and
vans and turnips and pumpkin pie
and bicarbonate of soda.
So. when the white meat is passed
to me day after tomorrow, I'll hoist
slab to the "fourmen on fowling"
and thank them for their discrim-
ination. And if the centuries hadn't
made it impossible, I would slip
them a bit Of crisp skin, because
that's the incest part of the turkey.
Distributed by McNausht Syndicate. Incl