Popular menu items:

• turkey
• stuffing (aka dressing)
• cranberry sauce
• corn bread (& corn pudding)
• apple pie
• pumpkin pie
• sweet potato pie
• apple cider

Recommended reading:

• Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving Recipes and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie/Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver and Plimoth Plantation
• America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely & Kathleen Fitzgerald
• The Turkey: An American Story/Andrew F. Smith

A celebration of historic American Thanksgiving dinners

[1621]
"Our modern holiday fare bears little resemblance to the food eaten at the three-day 1621 harvest celebration at Plymouth Colony, the event now recalled as the “First Thanksgiving.” The Wampanoag and Plymouth colonists often ate wild turkey, however it was not specifically mentioned in connection with that 1621 harvest celebration. Edward Winslow said only that four men went hunting and brought back large amounts of “fowl” – more likely from the scenario to be seasonal waterfowl such as ducks and geese. And what about the stuffing? Yes, the Wampanoag and English did occasionally stuff the birds and fish, typically with herbs, onions or oats (English only). If cranberries were served at the harvest celebration, they appeared in Wampanoag dishes, or possibly to add tartness to an English sauce. It would be 50 years before an Englishman mentioned boiling this New England berry with sugar for a “Sauce to eat with …Meat.” In 1621 England, sugar was expensive; in 1621 New Plymouth, there may not have been any of this imported spice at all. Potatoes, which had originated in South America, had not yet made their way into the diet of the Wampanoag in 1621 (though the Wampanoag did eat other local varieties of tubers). By 1621, potatoes, both sweet and white, had traveled across the Atlantic to Europe but they had not been generally adopted into the English diet. The sweet potato, originating in the Caribbean, was cultivated in Spain and imported into England. It was a rare dainty available to the wealthy, who believed it to be a potent aphrodisiac. The white potato was virtually unknown by the average early 17th-century Englishman. Only a few gentlemen botanists and gardeners were trying to grow this colonial oddity. But surely there was pumpkin pie to celebrate the harvest? Pumpkin -- probably yes, but pie – probably not...The typical menu of Thanksgiving dinner is actually more than 200 years younger than that 1621 celebration and reflects both the holiday’s New England roots and a Victorian nostalgia for an imaginary time when hearth and home, family and community, were valued over progress and change. But while we have been able to work out which modern dishes were not available in 1621, just what was served is a tougher nut to crack. The only contemporary description of the event by Edward Winslow tells us that they had seasonal wild fowl and the venison brought by the Wampanoag and presented to key Englishmen. The same writer is eloquent about the bounty of his new home (items in bold were available in the early autumn). Our bay is full of lobsters all the summer and affordeth variety of other fish; in September we can take a hogshead of eels in a night, with small labor, and can dig them out of their beds all the winter. We have mussels ... at our doors. Oysters we have none near, but we can have them brought by the Indians when we will; all the spring-time the earth sendeth forth naturally very good sallet herbs. Here are grapes, white and red, and very sweet and strong also. Strawberries, gooseberries, raspas, etc. Plums of tree sorts, with black and red, being almost as good as a damson; abundance of roses, white, red, and damask; single, but very sweet indeed… These things I thought good to let you understand, being the truth of things as near as I could experimentally take knowledge of, and that you might on our behalf give God thanks who hath dealt so favorably with us.1 Another source describing the colonial diet that autumn said “besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides they had … since harvest, Indian corn.”2 Though not specifically mentioned as a food on the menu, corn was certainly part of the feasts. Remember that the harvest being celebrated was that of the colorful hard flint corn that the English often referred to as Indian corn. This corn was a staple for the Wampanoag and soon became a fixture in the cooking pots of New Plymouth. The English had acquired their first seed corn by helping themselves to a cache of corn from a Native storage pit on one of their initial explorations of Cape Cod. (They later paid the owners for this “borrowed” corn.) It is intriguing to imagine how the English colonists processed and prepared the novel corn for the first time in the fall of 1621. One colonist gave a hint of how his countrymen sought to describe and prepare a new grain in familiar, comforting terms: “Our Indian corn, even the coarsest, maketh as pleasant a meat as rice.”3 In other words, traditional English dishes of porridge and pancakes (and later bread) were adapted to be used with native corn. ...In September and October, a variety of both dried and fresh vegetables were available. The produce from the gardens of New Plymouth is likely to have included what were then called “herbs:” parsnips, collards, carrots, parsley, turnips, spinach, cabbages, sage, thyme, marjoram and onions. Dried cultivated beans and dried wild blueberries may have been available as well as native cranberries, pumpkins, grapes and nuts. While many elements of the modern holiday menu are very different from the foods eaten in 1621, the bounty of the New England autumn was clearly the basis for both."
---Partakers of our Plenty, Kathleen A. Curtin, Plimoth Plantation

Additional details details, courtesy of The History Channel

[1817]
"Bill of Fare of Thanksgiving Dinner in Connecticut, Nov. 1817. Geese 50,000, Turkeys 5,500, Chickens 65,000, Ducks 2,000, Beef and Pork, 25,000 lbs, Potatoes 12,000 bu, Turnips 14,000, Beets 4,000, Onions 5,000, Cheese 10,000 lbs, Apple-Sauce 12,000 gls, Cranberry do. 1,000, Desert. Pump. Pies 520,000, Apple Pies 100,000, Other pies & Puddings 52,000, Wine, gls. 150, Brandy, gls, 150, Gin, gls 120, Rum, gls, 1,000, Cider, Bran., & Whiskey, 6000. Which would take 650 hhds, of strained pumpkin; 81 do. molasses; 4060 lbs. ginger; 7000 lbs. alspice, 86,666 lbs. flour; 43,333 lbs of butter or lard; 325 hhds. of milk of 100 galls each; 1000 nutmegs; 50 lbs. cinnamon; 43,5000 dozen eggs--all which would weigh about 504 tons, and would cost about $114,000."
---Times [Hartford, Ct.] December 30, 1817 (p. 3)

[1825]
"Of all the holidays in the year which are generated among us New England people, there is, perhaps no day in the whole holiday vocabulary, that gives a more general source of satisfaction and joy, than...Thanksgiving...turkeys...bacon...chickens fricassied...oyster patties...soup...vegetables...pigeons...quails...bass...wood cock...potatoes...onions...beets...cold-slaw...rice, pies...plumb puddings..."
---"A Thanksgiving Dinner," Village Register [Dedham, MA] November 24, 1825 (p. 3)

[1836]
"Thanksgiving...'Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.' And he is no true Yankee, who is not, in heart, at least, at home on Thanksgiving day...Another old saying, of the truth of which is expected every New Englander will on this day give practical demonstration, is theat "Victuals alwasy taste best at home." It is a day of universal stuffing--and it is absolutely requisite to a proper observance of Thanksgiving, that at least three dineers should be eaten up in one. The children and grandhildren return home at this season, to pay their respects and manifaest their undiminished love and affection, not to the "old folks" alone, but also to their roasted turkeies and pumpkin pies...As a matter of course, Thanksgiving week is the harvest time of the merchants, especially those who deal in butter, lard, eggs, raisins and spices. The markets are supplied with poultry of all kinds...Thanksgiving week, moreover, is the crisis of a turkey's life...The dinner is the all important item...turkeys, geese, and chickens...stuffed and roasted for the occasion...Then come puddings and pies...among the most prominent of which is that savory dish, peculiar to New England--that sine qua non of a Thanksgiving dinner--the well filled, deep and spacious pumpkin pie. This concludes the feast--and for the remainder of the day, a drowsy dullness is very apt to prevail."
---"New-Bedford," New-Bedford Mercury, December 1, 1836 (p. 2)

[1845]
"Thanksgiving Dinner.
Roast Turkey, stuffed.
A Pair of Chickens stuffed, and boiled, with cabbage-and a piece of lean pork.
A Chicken Pie.
Potatoes; turnip sauce, squash; onions; gravy and gravy sauce; apple and cranberry sauce; oyster sauce; brown and white bread.
Plum and Plain Pudding, with Sweet sauce.
Mince, Pumpkin and Apple Pies.
Cheese."
---The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book, Mrs. E.A. Howland, stereotyped edition [E.P. Walton and Sons:Montpelier VT] 1845 (p. 72)

[1851]
"Thanksgiving Dinner.--A number of gentlemen, of this city, have very generously made arrangements to give the children at the Orphan Asylum, on Cumberland-street, a Thanksgiving dinner."
---"Brooklyn," New York Times, November 27, 1851 (p. 2)

[1852]
"The Thanksgiving Dinner At the Five Points--The Ladies' Home Missionary Society design giving their Thanksgivingd dinner at the Five Points, under the big tent, which also been erected in the square just opposite the old Brewery. The tent previous to the day of the dinner will be used for divine service on the Sabbath, and for temperance meetings in the evenings. Mr. Pease is also active in preparing for his Thanksgiving dinner. Donations are solicted by both the ladies and Mr. Pease., who are engaged in a generous strife for good works, for which the poor will have cause to bless them."
---"New York City," New York Times, November 10, 1852 (p. 6)

[1854]
"Thanksgiving day has come--let us make the most of it. It has a threefold nature...Spend it simply as a day of religious exercises and it would answer a good turn for men in this irreligious age. Spend it as a day of feasting simply, and one may have a very pleasant recollection of it during the coming year, and perhaps see nothing to regret on it s recurrence to memory. Or give it over entirely to the deeds of charity and works of benevolence, and one may make a good friend of conscience and lay fat streaks of comfort upon the ribs of his experience. Each is good, but the style which most fully meets our ideal of a Thanksgiving is where the three ways are twisted together into one...After service should come a dinner; --one so differnt from the daily dinner as to be a notability among the dinners of hte year;---a thing to be though of with a watering at the mouth;--one that a body may reproduce in his dreams when half-starved. It is all nonsense to say that a good inner is a transient affair; that its virtue, like the savor of a roasting goose, is unsubstantial and of no account but for a moment...A right nice dinner, under right pleasant circumstances, is like a thing of beauty--a joy forever. We feel warmer on a chill November night for the remembrance of a roasting fire the night before. A chill passes over us whne we think of the cold stoveless churches that they used to pack us in and preach us at by the hour. Our sorrows are represented in their memory, and the ghosts of our good dinners come up to comfort us years after the flesh they laid upon our homes has been wasted by toil, and those who eat them with us have ceased from the earth. Hard as the time are, no money that is not of fabulous amount could buy of us the bare memory of some Thanksgiving dinners we have eaten before now with the old folks at home. Let those who can, then, have a good dinner on Thanksgiving day...Blessed charity is not to be omitted...Let all unwelcome tasks be postponed to the next work day. Let the punishments lie over until Friday. Make it a day to be remembered, without any alloy, so far as it is possible...So may this Thanksgiving be a hearty and happy one, and one but pleasant days mmet you till the return of another."
---"Thanksgiving Day," New York Times, November 30, 1854 (p. 4) [1856]
"Yes, a Thanksgiving in Lawrence (Kansas)! What, exclaims some innocne Miss, sitting by her comfortable and secure fireside in Ohio, reading about the wretched squatter's home, and of the sickening facts form Kansas, what on earth can the people of Lawrence have to be thankful for? Ah! but the Lawrence folks are Yankees, the descendants of the men who two hundred years ago embarked on the Mayflower, seeking a land where they could enjoy freedom for themselves and their children. A public Thanksgiving dinner was preparerd at Lawrence, the proceeds of the tickets to be applied for the benefit of the Free-Sate prisoners at Lecompoton...The table was spread in a large stone building erected for a store, directly opposite the ruins of the Free-State Hotel. The guests sat down to dinner about 4 o-clock..." ---"From Kansas," New York Daily Times, December 3, 1856 (p. 5)
[NOTE: No menu/dishes reported.]

[1861]
"Yours of this morning contained a notice in regard to Thanksgiving services, to be held in Metropolitan Hall under the auspcies of the Y.M. Christian Association. The Association desired to carry out the plan suggested in your notice. But after consultation with a number of citizens and soldiers, we found it might create dissatisfaction to thus select a single regiemnt form the 5,000 men now stationed here. Our reason for choosing the Douglas Bridage was that they have been with us longer than any others, and they expect to leave this week for the field. One other season was that they are uniformed, and the regiment is full which we thought might prevent others from coming. As our efforts have not been confined to any one regiment, we desired not to prejudice any of the soldiers against the Association. We would rejoice where we able to give a dinner to all the noble soldiers now in camp near our city, had not our expenditure for libraries, hymn books &c, distributed among fifteen regiments rendered this impossible." ---"The Thanksgiving Dinner to the Soldiers," Chicago Tribune, November 26, 1861 (p. 4)

[1862]
"Thanksgiving dinner--We understand that a number of our benevolent ladies have in contemplation the idea of giving to the 200 sick and wounded soldiers now in the United States General Hospital...a Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, the 27th..."
---"Thanksgiving Dinner," Chicago Tribune, November 25, 1862 (p. 4)

"Yesteday was duly observed here as a National Thanksgiving, according to the President's appointment...Several of the churches held religions services, and respstabley numerous audiences, considering the condition of the city, gathered to render fitting praise and homage to Him to whose protecting mercy our beloved counry owes all its past triumphs and prosperity..."
---"Affairs in Tennessee," New York Times, December 5, 1863 (p. 2)

[1864]
"The undersigned, committee appointed at a meeting held at the Union League Club House, appeal to the people of the North to join them in an effort to furnish to our gallant soldiers and sailors, a good Thanksgiving dinner. We desire that on the twenty-fourth day of November there shall be no soldiers in the Army of the Potaomac the James or the Shenandoah, and no sailor in the North Atlantic Squadron who does not receive tangible evidence that those for whom he is periling his life, remembering him. It is hoped that the armies at the West will be in the like manner cared for by those nearer to them than we. It is deemed impracticable to send our more Southern posts. To enable us to carry out our own undertaking, we need the active cooperation of all loyal people in the North and East, and to them we confindently appeal. We ask primarily for donations of cooked poultry and other proper meats, as well as for mince pies and for fruit. If any person is so situated as to be unable to cook the poultry or meat, we will receive it uncooked. To those who are unable to send donations in kind, we appeal for generous contributions in money. Will not every wife who has a husband, brother, serving in the armies or navies of the Union, feel that this appeal is to her personally, and do her part to enable us to accomplish our undertaking?...We will undertake to send to the fort all donations in kind that may reach us on or before Nov. 20, and to see that they are properly and equally distributed. The should be wrapped in white paper boxes, and addressed to Geo. W. Bluff, Getty's Buiding, Trinity Place, New York. If uncooked it should be so marked on the outside of the box, and a list of contents should accompany the mix. Poultry, properly cooked, will keep ten days. None should be sent which has been cooked prior to Nov. 14. Uncooked poultry or meat should reach us on or before Nov. 18, that it may be cooked here."
---"Thanskgiving Dinner for the Soldiers and Sailors, New York Times, November 8, 1864 (p. 2)

"The committee consisting of our leading merchants and citizens, appointed to carry out the proposition to furnish our gallant coldiers and sailors a Thanksgiving dinner, appeal to the people of the North to joint them in the effort. They ask for cooked poultry and other proper meats, as well as mince pies, sausages and fruits...Contributions in money should be sent to Theodore Rosevelt, Treasurer., No. 94, Maiden Lane."
---"A Thanksgiving Dinner for the Soldiers", Chicago Tribune, November 14, 1864 (p. 1)

"Whatever the rest of New Jersey may have accomplished, this town has certainly done all its duty by making a generous and hearty response to the appeal to assist in furnishing the soldiers with Thanksgiving dinner. The movement was inaugurated last week, and it at once enlisted the cordial cooperation of the whole community....Those who have heard this "war song" do not need ot have it described, and those who have not heard it must take the fist opportunity of doing so. The turkies, chickens and other "fixens," wioll be packed to-morrow morning and forwarded to New York to swell the contributions which will enable our soldiers to observe Thanksgiving in a becoming manner."
---"A Turkey Festival in Montclair, N.J.," New York Times, November 19, 1864, (p. 8)

[1870]
"Thanksgiving Dinner. Oyster soup, cod, with egg sauce, lobster salad, roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mixed pickles, mangoes, pickled peaches, cold slaw, and celery; boiled ham, chicken pie ornamented, jelly, mashed potatoes browned, tomatoes, boiled onions, canned corn, sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli. Mince, and pumpkin pie, apple tarts, Indian pudding. Apples, nuts, and raisins."
Jennie June's American Cookery Book, Jane Cunningham Croly, New York [NOTE: 1878 edition of this book offers exact same menu (p. 263).]

[1877]
"Thanksgiving Dinners. --Oyster soup; boiled fresh cod with egg sauce; roast turkey, cranberry sauce; roast goose, bread sauce or currant jelly; stuffed ham, apple sauce or jelly; pork and beans; mashed potatoes and boiled onions, salsify, macaroni and cheese; brown bread and superior biscuit; lobster salad; pressed beef, cold corned beef, tongue; celery, cream slaw; watermelon, peach, pear, or apple sweet-pickles; mangoes, cucumbers, chow-chow, and tomato catsup; stewed peaches or prunes; doughnuts and ginger cakes; mince, pumpkin, and peach pies; plum and boiled Indian puddings; apple, cocoa-nut or almond tarts; vanilla ice-cream; old- fashioned loaf cake, pound cake, black cake, white perfection cake, ribbon cake, almond layer cake; citron, peach, plum, or cherry preserves; apples, oranges, figs, grapes, raisins, and nuts; tea and coffee."
Buckeye Cookery, Estelle Woods Wilcox, Minneapolis Minnesota
What to do with the leftovers??!
[NOTE: 1880 edition of this book contains same menu (p. 350).]

[1892]
Brackenridge Hall, University of Texas, Austin

[1896]
Boston Cooking School Cookbook, Fannie Merritt Farmer, Boston Massachusetts

[1904]
"Oyster cocktail, Oxtail soup, Young turkey, Cranberry jelly, Chestnut boulettes, Baked tomatoes, Mashed potatoes, Olives, Salted Nuts, Radishes, Sweetbreads with Madiera in chafing-dish, Lettuce salad with French dressing, Cheese croquettes, Pastry strips, Pumpkin fachonettes, Orange ice, Old-fashioned hickory nut cakes, Black coffee, Roasted chestnuts."
---The Good Housekeeping Hostess, facsimile reprint of 1904 edition [Hearst Books:New York] 2002 (p. 262)
[NOTE: This book was recently reprinted and contains much information regarding period Thanksgiving celebrations. Ask your librarian to help you find a copy.]

[1905]
"Thanksgiving Dinner.
Like Christmas, Thanskgiving has its own bill of fare which has not been varied for many generations. Roasted turkey, pumpkin, mince and apple custard pies are served in almost all parts of the United States. A heavy breakfast, with chicken pie, and a late dinner are common rules. If shell-fish are in good condition, serve oysters on the half-shell or oyster cocktails as first course; if not, serve a clear soup. The turkey may be stuffed with oysters, or oyster sauce may be used in place of giblet sauce, or scalloped oysters may be served as a side dish. Oysters seem to be a part of the Thanksgiving dinner. Pumpkins, corn, nuts, fruits and bitter-sweet are the choice decorations.

[1905]
"In no place as in New England, or where New England's sons and daughters sojourn, does the Thanksgiving season seem complete; and no sort of homely feasting ever attains the absolute comfort of an old-fashioned New England Thanksgiving Day dinner. The many scattered children of that rocky soil from which their forefathers wrung scant living will welcome this recall of the old-time festivity, even if they cannot perfectly reproduce it. There is a distinction without much difference in the dinners at the coast and in the interior; on farms and in villages away from the railroads fresh fish is seldom used, while on the coast baked tautog is a prime Thanksgiving luxury; oysters reach the interior both in cans and in the shells, and are regarded as special rarities worthy to be served at the greatest festivals; then, too, away from the large towns game birds are rarely cooked, partridge being the exception...Even the interior dinners might be varied with game, for the addition of the partridge there are plenty of woodock, wild duck, and herons, to say nothing of the Gargantuan widow's cruse full of young rooks for pies. A typical dinner near the New England coast would be somewhat as follows:

Baked Tautog, Boiled chicken with oyster sauce, Potatoes, Beets, Onions, Mashed turnips and squash, Sweet potatoes, Beef a la mode, Roast turkey with cranberry jelly, Roast venison with currant jelly, Assorted pickles, Roast or baked partridge or wild duck, Celery, Plum-pudding, Various cakes, Apple, mince, squash, pumpkin, and custard pies, Cider, Nuts, Apples, Raisins, Coffee...

"Much sarcasm is called forth by the New England cusom of using such food to excess, but it does not seem so very absurd to those "to the manner born."...It seems also that the company dinners of the interior are more profuse in quantity and variety than those of the towns; all the good things in the form of preserves, jellies, and pickles (sour and sweet), and all the favorite pies and puddings are made, except perhaps plum-pudding, which some researve solely for the Christmas dinner; but generally throughout New Engalnd more attention is given to Thanksgiving than to Christmas--the lingering trace of the old Puritans' and Covenanters' protest against the observance of the highest festival of the Established Church. The next bill of fare may seem exxageratted, bu the reader must remember that many of the Thanksgivings in the interior, especially upon large farms, are family gatherings to which the children of several generations come, and all traditions of mother's and grandmother's culinary skill must be sustained; every homely dainty is called out from the shadows of the pantry and spring-house, and the embers revived in the old brick oven and under the back-log in fireplaces where the modern cooking stove burns all the rest of the year. If the feast seems heroic, so too are the appetites of the guests, tempered to meet the exencies of the exceptional occaision...The bill of fare then will be:

"Fried oysters, or oyster stew, Baked chicken pie, Sweet and our pickles and catsup, Mashed potatoes and turnips, Boiled while potatoes, Boiled onions, Baked beets, Squash, Roast spareribs with stuffing and apple-sauce, Roast turkey, goose, or chicken with cranberry-sauce, Fried sausage with fried apples, Baked Indian pudding, Steamed fruit or cracker pudding, Mince, apple, squash, pumpkin, and berry pies with cheese, Doughnuts, crullers, cookies, cup cakes, and gold-and-silver, marble, and sponge cakes, Washington pie, Various preserves, Cider, Home-made wines and shrub."
---Family Living on $500 A Year, Juliet Corson [Harper & Brothers:New York] 1905 (p. 407-411)

[1905-1950]
Thanksgiving Menus, U.S. Navy

[1906]
"Menu-Thanksgiving Day...A peanut doll dressed in blue and white crepe paper in Puritan costume, holding a few heads of wheat, makes an appropriate and dainty Thanksgiving favor. Decorate the table with autumn leaves. Corn, husked and tied together, is most effective, suspended here and there from the walls and between the doors. As Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when all America gives praise for prosperity and freedom, an unusually well-filled board is not only in good taste, but is expected. To make a unique Thanksgiving dessert, cut a small pumpking across the top. Carefully scoop out the inside. Place on a dish and fill with Floating Island; replace the pumpkin top. Garnish the platter with generous sprigs of autumn leaves, and on these lay a variety of sliced cakes.

Menu: Breakfast: Grapes, Oatmeal, Country Sausages, Scrambled Eggs, Browned Potatoes, Entier Wheat Griddle Cakes, Maple Syrup, Coffee.
Dinner: Oysters on the Half Shell, Mutton Broth, Celery, Turkey, stuffed with oysters, Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Baked Squash, Boiled Onions, with cream sauce, Peach Pickles, Waldorf Salad, Cheese Wafer, Mince Pie, Pudding, Puritan Style, Nuts, Fruit, Coffee.
Supper: Cold Roast Turkey, Tea Biscuits, Cottage Cheese, Sweet Tomato Pickles, Thanksgiving Cake, Fruit Glace, Tea.
As this is a day of general rejoicing, see that the poor are not forgotten. Don't forget the adage, "Love thy neighbor as thyself.""
---The Blue Ribbon Cook Book, Annie R. Gregory [Monarch Book Company:Chicago IL] 1906 (p. 32)

[1908]
"Waldorf Thanksgiving Dinner Menu.
Cape Cod Oysters, Giblet Soup, Sheepshead with Hollandaise Sauce, Tomatoes Stuffed with Cucumbers, Saddle of New Jersey Mutton, Macedoine of Fresh Vegetables, Turkey Stuffed with Chestnuts, Cranberry Sauce, Brussels Sprouts, Potato Palestine, Lettuce and Grape Fruit Salad with Cracked Almonds, Plum Pudding with Rum Sauce, Mince and Pumpkin Pies, Glace Plombiere, Cafe."
---New York Evening Telegram Cook Book, Emma Paddock Telford [Cupples & Leon:New York] 1908 (p. 218)

[1911]
"Thanksgiving Dinner. Oysters with Sherry, Thanksgiving Soup, Popped Corn, Roast Stuffed Turkey, Brown Gravy, Sweet Potatoes a la Bement, Boiled Onions, Turnip Croquettes, Cranberry Conserve, Chicken Pie, Chiffonade Dressed Lettuce, Puritan Pudding, Foamy Brandy Sauce, Mince Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Nuts and Raisins, Assorted Fruit, Cafe Noir."
---Catering for Special Occasions with Menus and Recipes, Fannie Merritt Farmer [David McKay:Philadelphia] 1911 (p. 145)

[1917]
"Turkey with Giblet Gravy, Oyster Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Onions, Cranberry Frappe, Bread, Celery, Butter, Plum Pudding, Hard Sauce, Nuts, Raisins, Coffee."
---A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron [A.L. Burt:New York] 1917 (p. 293)

[1926]
"Thanksgiving: Fruit Cocktail, Celery, Olives, Cream of Corn Soup with Crisp Crackers, Roast Turkey, Chestnut Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Baked Stuffed Onions, Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin Pie, Cheese, Coffee."
---The Art of Cooking and Serving, Sarah Field Splint [Proctoer & Gamble:Cincinnati OH] 1926 (p. 232)

[1927]
"Thanksgiving Dinners: Cream of Tomato Soup, Roast Turkey, Southern Giblet Gravy, Potato Croquettes, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower with Hollandaise Sauce, Cranberry Jelly, Romaine Salad, French Dressing, Individual Pumpkin Pies, Whipped Cream, Cider Ice, Nuts, Raisins.

"Halves of Grapefruit, Roast Duck, Apple Stuffing, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Creamed Turnips, Cole-Slaw, Baked Squash, Cider, Indian Pudding, Foamy Sauce, Nuts, Coffee.

"Fruit Cocktail, Chicken Fricassee, Riced Potatoes, Celery, Buttered Onions, Squash Pie."
---Good Housekeeping's Book of Good Meals: How to Prepare and Serve Them, Good Housekeeping Institute [Good Housekeeping:New YOrk] 1027 (p. 238)

[1929]
"A Thanksgiving Dinner: Oyster Cocktail, Petite Marmite, Roast Turkey, Chestnut Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes Glace, Buttered Cauliflower, Celery, Moulded Cranberry Jelly, Bread and Butter, Hearts of Lettuce, Roquefort Dressing, Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie, Fruit, Nuts, Black Coffee."
---Mrs. Allen on Cooking, Menus, Service, Ida C. Bailey Allen [Doubleday, Doran & Company:Garden City NY] 1929 (p. 874)

[1932]
"The depression wil in no way curtail the Thanksgiving Day feasts for the various state, county and local institutions and old King Turkey or his alternate, chicken, will be the main dish around which the dinner is built on Thursday...A chicken dinner will be served at the State Hospital at Greystone Park. The dinner will start off with cream of tomato soup with croutons, followed by roast chicken and dressing and giblet gravy, apple sauce, creamed lima beans, sweet potatoes, celery salad, bread and butter, mince pie, coffee and milk. It is interesting to note the quantities of food which has to be preapred for this dinner. There will be 400 gallons of cream of tomato soup, 100 pounds of croutons, 5,000 lbs. chickens, 600 lbs. dressing, 150 gallons giblet gravy, 500 lbs of apples for apple ssauce, 20 barrels of sweet potatoes, 600 pounds oflima beans, 2,000 stalks of celery, 900 loaves of bread, 4 tubs of butter, 1,500 pounds of mince meat made into 5 lb. pies, 5,000 apples, 600 gallons of coffee and 250 quarts of milk. The dinner will be prepared by Chef William Walton and his kitchen staff. At night, the patients will enjoy a talking picture show. Chickens raised at the Morris County Welfare House have been killed off for the Thanksgiving dinner at the Morris County jail. A hearty dinner featuring fricassee chicken with all its side dishes will be served and in addition there will be oranges and nuts for the prisoners. A turkey dinner will be served at Shonghum Sanitarium and in addition ex-service men and the wives of ex-service men who are pateints there will be remembered with special baskets from the Morristown Post of the American Legion. At the Welfare House a roast chicken dinner with cranberry sauce, white and sweet potatoes, apple pie, fruit, candy, etc. will be served. Friends of All Souls Hospital have again remembered that institution for Thanksgiving today the usual number of turkeys with all the fixings to accompany them were received at the hospital. The menu includes turkey soup, roast turkey with giblet dressing, cranberry sauce, celery, candied sweet potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, nuts and candy and coffee. The menu at Memorial Hospital includes tomato bisque, roast turkey, chestnut dressing, creamed onions, candied sweet potatoes, fresh peas, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, buttered squash, celery, olives, assorted nuts, pumpkin and mince pie, ice cream and mints. The menu at Shonghum includes roast turkey with dresing, potatoes, mashed squash, cranberry sauce, celery and olives, mince and pupkin pie, nuts and after dinner mints."
---"Inmates of Institutions To Get Holiday Meals," Daily Record [Morristown, NJ], November 23, 1032 (p. 1)
[NOTE: Greystone Park was a psychiatric hospital.]

[1939]
"Thanksgiving: Oyster Bisque, Roast Turkey, garnished with tiny broiled sausages, Brown Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Turnip or Baked Winter Squash, Onions, Buttered or in Cream, Grapefruit and Celery Salad, Pumpkin Pie, Fruit, Nuts, Black Coffee."
---The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Fannie Merritt Farmer [Little, Brown & Company:Boston] (p. 13)

[1940]
"Thanksgiving Dinners: No. --Clear Soup, Bread Sticks, Salted Almonds, Celery, Olives, Roast Turkey, Giblet Sauce, Chestnut Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Cranberry Jelly, Lettuce or Romaine Salad with French Dressing, Cheese Wafers, Frozen Pudding or Hot Mince Pie, Bonbons, Coffee; No. 2--Grapefruit Baskets, Olives, Baked Guinea Hen with Gravy, Crabapple Jelly, Candied Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower au Gratin, Tomato Jelly Salad, Graham Bread Sandwiches, Individual Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream, Candied Orange Peel, Coffee; No. 3--Grapefruit, Baked Loin of Pork with Gravy, Browned Potatoes, Apple Sauce, or Baked Ham with Southern Sweet Potatoes, Tomato and Celery Salad, French Dressing, Thanksgiving Plum Pudding, Foamy Sauce, Coffee."
---The American Woman's Cook Book, edited and revised by Ruth Berolzheimer [Consolidated Book Publishers:Chicago] 1940 (p. 56)

[1941]
"Even the vegetarians are preparing to be bold trenchermen this Thanksgiving, although without benefit of turkey, stuffed or otherwise...The Thanksgiving menu of the Vegetarian Society of New York, which will gather about 150 strong for its annual dinner today in Schildkraut's Vegetarian Restaurant...will have its piece de resistance Tragopogan porrifolius. This is better known as salsify, or the "vegetable oyster"; it is a purple flowered herb which grows on Long Island. It will fit as follows into the feast: Vitamin cocktail (saurkraut and tomato juice), Eggplant combination salad, Vegetable consomme, Salsify with red marrow squash, beets and mashed green split peas, Pineapple strudel, Swedish bread and whole wheat breadsticks, beverage."
---"Herb to be featured at vegetarian feast," New York Times, November 20, 1941 (p. 36)

[1944]
"Oyster Bisque, Roast Capon, Chestnut Stuffing, String Beans with Mushrooms, Mashed Turnip, Orange Salad, Pecan Pie."
---The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, new edition, completely revised [Farrar & Rinehart:New York] 1944 (p. 375) [1944]
U.S. Navy Camp Rousseau, Port Hueneme California

[1946]
"Ten million pounds of turkey, purchased since last July are on their way to American troops all over the globe, the War Department said today. The Thanksgiving menu will include celery, pickles, olives, roast turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, green peas, stewed corn; lettuce wedges with Thousand-Island dressing; hot rolls and butter; oranges, apples, pumpkin pie, candy, raisins, salted nuts and coffee."
---"Turkeys Sent to GI's," New York Times, November 7, 1946 (p. 26)

[1954]
"New England Thanksgiving Dinner: Cream of Oyster Soup topped with Whipped Cream, Celery, Salted or Sugared Almonds, Bread Sticks, Roast Turkey, Chestnut Dressing with Giblet or Plain Gravy, Cranberry Sauce with Apple Balls or Cranberry Jelly, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows, Boiled Onions, Stuffed Squash, Relishes, jelly, Pumpkin Pie with Cheese, ice Cream, Cookies, Fruit, Coffee, Nuts, Raisins."
---The New Settlement Cook Book, revised and enlarged eidition, originally compiled by MRs. Simon Kander [Simon and Schuster:New YOrk] 1954 (p. 21)

[1956]
"Cranberry-juice Cocktail, Glazed Baked Ham, Creamy Mustard Sauce, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Buttered Peas and Celery, Mocha Fluff Chiffon Cake, Fresh Fruit, Coffee."
---Family Circle Magazine, November 1956 (p. 34)

[1959]
"Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner: Hot Tomato Starter, Roast Turkey, Herb Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Orange-glazed Sweet Potatoes, Buttered Green Beans, Apple-Pineapple Slaw, Hot Biscuits, Butter, Pumpkin Pie, Hot Coffee."
---Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cook Book [Meredith Publishing Company:New York] 1959 (p. 46)

[1961]
"Thanksgiving Dinner: Celery Hearts, Olives, Radishes, Small Cheese Canapes, Roast Turkey with Favorite Stuffing, Sweetbread and Oyster Pie, Hashed-Browned Potaotes, Broccoli, Hoolandiase, Hot Ross, Cranberry Jelly, Tipsy Peaches, Pumpkin Pie, Ice Cream, Coffee."

"Thanksgiving Supper: Sliced Roast Turkey Garnished with Cranberry Jelly Circles, Tossed Green Salad, Toasted Rolls, Ice Cream or Sweetmeat Tray, Coffee."
---Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook, Amy Vanderbilt [Doubleday & Company:Garden City NY] 1961 (p. 702-3)

[1963]
"Traditional Thanksgiving: Golden-Brown Turkey, Peas and Little Onions, Buttery Grated Carrots, Cranberry-Brazil-Nut Relish, Rolls, Brandied Pumplin Pie, Coffee."

"Thanksgiving. Roast Loin of Pork Polynesian, Yams Flambes, Green Beans with Mushrooms, Wine Fruit Salad, Rolls, Cranberries Jubilee, Coffee, Wine."
---McCall's Cook Book [Random House:New York] 1963 (p. 716) [1965]
15th U.S. Field Artillery Regiment, Vietnam

[1972]
"Thanksgiving Dinner: Green and Ripe Olives, Mixed Salted Nuts, Celery and Beet Broth, Roast Pheasant with Wild Rice Stuffing and Creamed Pan Sauce, Cranberry-Filled Lemon Baskets, Braised Chestnuts and Brussels Sprouts, Tartlettes Divers, Autumn Fruit Basket."
---Gourmet, November 1972 (p. 62)

1973
"Traditional Thanksgiving.. .Planned for Eight to Ten
Hors d'Oeuvre, chilled caviar, white toast rounds, lobster bisque with sherry, golden roast turkey, old-fashioned dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry-apple relish, butternut squash or glazed sweet potatoes, broccoli with lemon sauce, grapefruit-and-avodaco salad platter, assorted hot rolls, butter, old-fashioned pumpkin pie, ice cream turkeys, white or rose wine, cider, coffee, liqueurs.

"New England Thanksgiving...Planned for Six to Eight
Corn-and clam chowder, roast stuffed pheasant or turkey, giblet gravy, baked acorn-squash halves, broccoli polonaise, crisp relishes, cranberry jelly, buttered hot biscuits or cornbread squares, warm maple-squash pie or baked Indian pudding with vanilla ice cream, hot mulled cider, coffee.

"Modern Thanksgiving...Planned for Six to Eight.
Hot clam broth with tarragon, turkey au vin with mushrooms, onions, and new potatoes, tossed green salad, crusty French bread, cranberry relish, grape-sherbet ring, warm spongecake, beaujolias, coffee."
---New McCall's Cookbook, Mary Eckley, food editor of McCall's [Random House:New York] 1973 (p. 574-5)

[1974]
"Thanksgiving Dinner For 12 Persons: Grapefurit Fizz, Basic Roast Turkey with Sausage-and-Apple Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Fluffy Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Beans Amandine, Hot Dinner Rolls, Mincemeat-Pear Pie, Praline-Pumpkin Pie, Coffee, Tea, Milk."
---Family Circle Cookbook, food editor of Family Circle and Jean Anderson [Family Circle:New YOrk] 1974](p. 85)

[1977]
"Turkey, bread-and-cornmeal stuffing (made oven-top style), giblet gravy and cranbery sauce, candied sweet potatoes, green peas, fruited cole slaw, apple or cherry pie, coffee (premixed with milk and sugar to expedite the cafeteria-style service.)"
---"Giving Shelter--And a Holiday Meal," Ron Alexander, New York Times, November 21, 1977 (p. 51)

[1978]
"Buttered Channel Bass, Tartar Sauce, Baked Turkey, Oyster Pie, Green Peas and Artichokes, Cornbread Dressing, Parely Rice, Giblet Gravy, Angel Biscuits, Relishes, Benne Seed Wafers, Shortbread, Syllabub, Wine, Coffee with Lemon."
---Southern Living, November 1978 (p. 3s)

[1985]
"The Water Club...Appetizers include New York duck foie gras terrine, corn and crabmeat chowder, and mouseline of New England bay scallops. For a main course, you might order roast turkey with sausage, apple and celery stuffing; prime ribs, or roast goose with raisins and wild rice stuffing. Dessert options are pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, marjorlaine or seasonal berries."
---"Dining Out Guide: Thanksgiving Day," New York Times, November 22, 1985 (p. C19)

[1991]
"A Grand Thanksgiving Feast for 10 to 12: Red or White Belgian Endive with Smoked Salmon and Mustard Sauce, Buttered Toast Triangles, Roast Turkey, Giblet Gravy, Cranberry Chipotle Relish, Steamed Mini-pumpkins with Fresh Raisin Chutney, Red Bell Peppers and Caper Rice, Green Beans and Butter-browned Onions, Wild Rice with Aromatics, Fila-wrapped Rum Cake Bundles, Chardonnay, Sparkling Apple Juice."
---Sunset, November 1991 (p. 180)

[1996]
Dinner for Twelve from Colonial Charleston: Oysters on the Half Shell with Spicy Vinegar, Saugivnon Blanc, Roast Turkey with Corn Bread Stuffing and Giblet Gravy, Smithfield Ham Baked with Madeira, Southern Greens, Mashed Turnips with Nutmeg, Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Cardamom, Apple Chutney, Apple Chutney, Hard Cider, Four-Layer Cake with Lemon Curd, Coffee."
---Bon Appetit, November 1996 (p. 113)

[2003]
"Thanksgiving menu: Garlic Mashed Potato Pie, Roasted Root Vegetables with Spinach, Sweet Potato Casserole, Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauce, Wild Rice, Chestnut Stuffing with Stock, Pumpkin Pie."
---Vegetarian Times, November 2003 (p. 49)

[2006]
U.S. Military, Iraq

RECOMMENDED READING

• Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving Recipes and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie/Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver and Plimoth Plantation [2005]
• America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely & Kathleen Fitzgerald [2004]
• The Turkey: An American Story/Andrew F. Smith

About culinary research & about copyright.
Research conducted by Lynne Olver, editor The Food Timeline. About this site.