Before the 1980s: And now for something completely different…
For this year’s Thanksgiving, instead of digging into our archives for Turkey-day related images, we asked our readers to check their old photo albums, dig out the shoeboxes with pictures stashed under their beds a few decades ago, and share with us Thanksgiving photographs taken before 1985.
Here is what we received.
Corinne Bowers sent us a photograph from 1958 showing her mother, Dorothy Bowers, on Thanksgiving Day in Shadyside Hospital. “She had just given birth to me,” Dorothy Bowers’ daughter wrote. “She’s shown with a turkey drumstick in her hand and a smile on her face.”
That must have been one Happy Thanksgiving…. AND a Happy Birthday!
The second photograph came from Allison Sciullo who grew up in Shaler. It was taken approximately in 1978. In this photo, we see Allison Sciullo herself with a live turkey named Sissy. Here is a fascinating background:
“My dad won the live bird at some sort of a local turkey shoot and he brought her home. I guess the plan was that she would be ‘Thanksgiving.’ In the meantime, he named her Sissy and used to drive around with her in his Jeep. (Our family often had pets that were out of the ordinary, so I never thought anything was odd about it.) He got pretty attached to Sissy. We still ate her for Thanksgiving, but I think my pap ended up having to take her out. Don’t think Dad could do it.”
“Not many people outside of this area have ever heard of a turkey shoot,” Ms. Sciullo said, “but it’s a marksman-type event around the holidays, often held at sportsmen’s clubs. The prizes are usually frozen or live turkeys.”
We thank our readers for the submissions accompanied by the great stories and wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!
