Thanksgivings Past in Alabama

In the United States Thanksgiving has been celebrated as a federal holiday since 1863 when Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise" to God. The holiday's roots are often traced to the Pilgrim's first harvest celebration and a presidential proclamation by George Washington.

Today Thanksgiving in America is largely a combination of family celebrations, football, and shopping, shopping, shopping. Below are some scenes and other materials from past Thanksgivings in Alabama. 

Muhammad Ali signs autographs at the Alabama State College homecoming in Montgomery on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1966. That same day the Turkey Day Classic football game between Alabama State and Tuskegee Institute was played. Ali was on a tour of colleges in the South.

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections
Many other photos from his visit are available there. 

Thanksgiving procession at the Central Alabama Agricultural School in Blountsville on November 24, 1904

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

Thanksgiving altar at the Church of the Ascension on Clanton Avenue in Montgomery in November 1961

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

Source: Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections

Bill Bates of Bates Farms presents Clyde the Turkey to Governor Don Siegelman for the traditional pardon, perhaps in 1999. Bates began his annual presentation in 1948.  

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

Martha Young [1862-1941] was an Alabama fiction author, poet and folklorist; she often wrote in African-American dialect. This typescript is dated around 1920 and probably meant for submission for publication. 

Although considered for decades as a negative characterization, "Uncle Tom" was originally a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. He was intended to overturn the negative stereotypes of African-Americans in the minstrel shows of the period.  

Source: University of Alabama Digital Collections

Not all the news related to Thanksgiving in Alabama is positive or light-hearted. These units were probably still active after the Spanish-American War. Hostilities had ended in August but the peace treaty was not signed until December 10, 1898. 

Owingsville [KY] Outlook 1 December 1898

Source: Library of Congress Chronicling America Digital Collection

Slacker Mama Thanksgiving 2012

Hey friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful, calm Thanksgiving holiday!

After the insane rush to get the house company ready, things really went fantastic!

For several years, my family gets together for Thanksgiving brunch instead of lunch or supper.  It is wonderful because everyone usually has to go somewhere else for a traditional meal later in the day.  Since we have breakfast-related foods, nobody has to eat two turkey and dressing meals in a row.  I also love just spending time with my family, eating, talking, laughing, and looking through all the sales papers.  It's literally my favorite tradition of the year!

This year, we were sad that my sister (Diane) and brother-in-law (Jerry) weren't able to come because they had the FLU!  Also, my nephew Adam and his family (Jennifer, Lucas, and Patrick) were visiting Jennifer's family in Florida for the holidays. Things just weren't the same without them!

Well, enough rambling, on to pictures!  (I want to apologize to my FB friends, you've already seen them. Sorry)

My tiny bit of Thanksgiving decor in the foyer.

And a tiny bit more on the mantle.

A clean kitchen! (With my heat press showing on my kitchen table. LOL)

Dining room table FILLED with delicious food!

 Now tons of food pictures!  Feel free to skip this part.

Mrs. Evelyn's delicious cheese and cinnamon rolls!

Sausage cheese biscuits.

Apple dumplings

My niece, Laura, made these fabulous peanut butter/brownies.

My mom's breakfast casserole.

"Bacon and eggs"

Ham and cheese mini-sandwiches

Ham biscuits

Fabulous pumpkin spice cake my niece, Selena, made.

Ranch oyster crackers.

Turtles

Strawberry muffins

Pumpkin pie!

"Christmas crack"....recipe from Kim Wheeler.

Everyone filling up their plates.

My handsome son.

Selena, Laura, Beau and Kacie looking at the sales papers.

My adorable niece, Selena.

Chelsea and my great-niece, Kacie.

My beautiful mama.

My niece's husband (my new nephew) Beau.

My nephew, Derek. He's smiling because he's watching all the Bama games on replay.

Chelsea

Sales papers everywhere.

Sweets first Thanksgiving with a family! She liked the baked beans.  LOL

After my family left, we headed to my mother-in-law's house.  I didn't get any pictures of the food because they had already started eating before we got there.  We did get a few pictures outside.  I'm saving the best for my Christmas cards!

Chelsea and my niece, Shelby.

My great-nephew, Reed, taking a wagon ride around the neighborhood.

Jameson in his hunting garb.

Jameson and Marty being uncooperative while trying to take family pictures.  HAHA!

While it wasn't a perfect day (missing my sister, brother-in-law, and my nephew and his family), it was a great, calm, and beautiful day!

A perfect way to start the Holiday Season!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

A 48 hour dining room transformation.

No, this isn't a new remodeling or design post.  This is a dramatic transformation from craft room craziness, to Thanksgiving brunch central, to plain dining room, all in 48 hours.

This is what my dining room looked like Wednesday morning.  Embarrassing as this is, this photo was taken after we had already moved and organized all my frames, packing materials, and t-shirts/blanks.  Yeah, I'm a hot mess (literally) when it comes to crafting.

This is a few hours into the great clean/purge.

And this is what the dining room looked like around 9:30 am Thursday morning.  The table is just as covered, but with delicious food!

ALMOST the best picture ever....most of my loved ones (missing my sister and brother-in-law NO thanks to the flu!) all around the dining room table!

And finally, my dining room table this morning.

**sigh**

I'm going to try to enjoy it for this moment, because I know all too soon, it will look like this again:

I hope you all had the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever!

We are just relaxing at home today, but excited to read about all of everyone's Black Friday finds! Did any of you find anything good?