An antique Thanksgiving poscard.
Thanksgiving Day of 1919 was celebrated with feelings of both great sorrow and hope. Within the previous two years, at least 4,000 New Hampshire residents had died before their time (war causalities plus those who died unexpectedly from the flu). On this day in November, the memories of those losses were still painfully fresh. At the same time the Armistice had been signed over a year before, and so there was a deep sense of hope to rebuild lives and fortunes. Women had been fighting for their right to vote for many decades, and now, pending ratification, it looked like they would soon be able to.
I’ve gleaned some stories from New Hampshire’s newspapers around Thanksgiving Day of 1919 [Thanksgiving was on 27th of November] to see if we can go back in time to that era and understand how people felt and what they thought important. It was a time when the steam train was still king, when automobiles were allowing more people to travel faster and further on their own, and women were feeling more empowered. Continue reading
