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Happy Thanksgiving Weekend.

Reactor-Maurice-Vellekoop-Thanksgiving

Here is Maurice Vellekoop’s commission from The Boston Globe for an article titled, “Thanksgiving, or how to eat American politics,” by Rachel Laudan, author of “Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History”. Her piece traces the evolution of the ‘traditional’ turkey dinner as a kind of populist reaction against stuffy, aristocratic, European modes of dining. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book (pictured bottom left) democratically proposed inviting children to join adults in a simple, nutritious meal that was a reaction against the fancy sauces and elaborate molded desserts beloved of monarchs across the Atlantic. It was she who persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday 150 years ago.

November 29, 2013