Asking
for a Wishbone from the President by
Alan Borer
As a boy, I enjoyed Thanksgiving almost as much as Christmas, mainly because of the feast prepared and served by my mother and/or
various female relatives. For a small
boy, it was pretty much a work-free celebration. The only “work” I remember doing was
carefully securing and drying the turkey wishbone. I had read enough Thanksgiving story books,
and seen enough holiday TV shows, that I was determined to follow that custom
and receive whatever prize or luck came to the one who broke off the bigger
portion of the wishbone.
Lucky wishbones are an old custom. The Etruscans of pre-Roman Italy thought
wishbones brought luck. In the Middle
Ages, a goose breastbone was examined on St. Martin’s Day (November 11) for
weather predictions for the coming year.
Turkeys were unknown in Europe before Christopher Columbus, but were
soon part of “harvest home” celebrations.
Harvest Home, still celebrated in many American churches, marks the end
of the growing season, when food was plentiful and easy to obtain. Add in the presidential proclamations of a
celebration the last Thursday in November, coupled with an avalanche of
Thanksgiving galas, pageants, and greeting cards starting around 1900. It is no
wonder that America developed a turkey-themed holiday, of which the wishbone
played a part.
Who was president when all this was developing? Abraham Lincoln decreed the first national
Thanksgiving, but the President at the time that the holiday really took off was
none other than William McKinley.
McKinley (1843-1901), a native of nearby Canton, Ohio, proclaimed
Thanksgiving a national holiday as was the custom. It was no surprise therefore that McKinley
declared Thursday, November 30, 1899 to be Thanksgiving Day. McKinley was riding high in popularity that
month. The nation had won a brief war
with Spain in 1898, and the economy was doing well. He appeared to be a shoe-in for reelection
with his even more popular running-mate, Theodore Roosevelt.
Whether McKinley heard of a news story that appeared in
the Perrysburg Journal the following
spring is impossible to say. But turkey
wishbones were on the minds of many:
.
. . . At least a hundred letters were received by President McKinley asking for
the wishbone of the Thanksgiving turkey, and half as many more for the right
drumstick. Just think of it! Asking for a bone at which the President has
nibbled. A bone from a common turkey,
raised in a common barn yard . . . . served like any other old turkey, but to
those worshippers of titles and aristocracy, made sacred by the lips of a
member of the President’s household. . . . [February 9,
1900]
We can assume that this was either written by, or was
approved by, the editor of the Journal,
one E. L. Blue. Mr. Blue was outraged,
at least editorially, that American citizens were “soft” enough to want a
souvenir that smacked of royalty.
Whether the White House acted on these requests is unknown. The idea of sending a greasy wishbone through
the mail rather suggests it was not.
When William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New
York in 1901, he was succeeded by Roosevelt.
In an odd bit of coincidence, Roosevelt used the symbol of the wishbone
in his 1904 reelection campaign. He used
the wishbone to proclaim the good times that country continued to have in the
new century, and thousands of pins and buttons featured Roosevelt surrounded by
the twin arms of a wishbone. This time,
the wishbone brought him the luck it symbolized.
As Americans eat more and more processed food, fewer of
us sit down to a home cooked or home carved Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Restaurants big and small entice customers
with buffets and prepackaged meals that, while featuring turkey, have eaten
away at the home processed repast. I‘m
sure the symbol and tradition of the wishbone will survive for many for many
years to come, although in fewer homes.
Check with your grocer or butcher if you are not doing the whole
extravaganza this year. They may be able
to help.
No comments:
Post a Comment