Tomorrow, Another Thanksgiving Vintage Postcard
Category Archives: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving According to John Greenleaf Whittier
“The Pumpkin”
“Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and South, come the pilgrim and guest, When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more, And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?”
Tomorrow, A Thanksgiving Quote
Filed under Thanksgiving, Worthy Words
Antique Cobbler’s Stand
This cobbler’s stand was used for shoe repairs. A cobbler made and repaired shoes. It belonged to my great-grandfather’s ancestors out of western North Carolina. The early settlers didn’t have stores to buy shoes and the shoes they did have had to last for a long time. They used the stand below that came with multiple sizes to repair their shoes.
Filed under Thanksgiving
A Low-tech Mayonnaise Maker
The Tool
Check out the pic on the right. The mayo maker is a glass container with a lid that screws on to the jar with a hole in the center. The handle fits through a hole in the aluminum lid that ends with a mesh beater at the bottom of the jar. Oil (Wesson Oil was the most often used.) was drizzled slowly through the hole in the lid as the handled is worked up and down to create and emulsion which becomes mayonnaise. The original cost was about $1, but they sell now for $35 – $45. The one was my grandmother’s.
The Recipe
1 egg
2 Tbl lemon juice or vinegar
1 tsp each mustard, salt, sugar
pinch of pepper
1 Pint Wesson oil
The first ingredients are mixed quickly, the oil is poured slowly. Mix all the ingredients together except for the oil. Mix quickly and well. Add Wesson oil very slowly, mixing all the while. Place in jar and store in a refrigerator.
Filed under Thanksgiving
Welcome to Americana Month
Welcome to Americana month at Rita Bay’s Blog. November is for Thanksgiving and NaNoWriMo. Everyone knows about Thanksgiving but NaNoWriMo is the month that authors and would-be authors across the world commit to writing 50,000 words in thirty days. This will be my 5th year, but I’ve only met the goal once. Not sad, though. I’ve finished a novel each November, then cleaned it up in December.
That kind of writing is really intense, so a lot of things get done early or fall by the wayside. House will be cleaned, food will be cooked, and Rita Bay’s Blog for November will be written and scheduled in October. Americana looks at Thanksgiving through the writings of famous Americans in history and vintage postcards. There’ll also be some recipes from American history and my family’s personal papers. Finally, I’ll be sharing pics of my packrat family’s stuff from the last century or two, especially tools specific for men and women’s work. One tool I’m not really sure what it is or how it was used. So join me throughout this month’s journey through the past. Enjoy!
Filed under Thanksgiving
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