Ever wonder what your Civil War-era ancestors would think of your third helping of pumpkin pie at the Thanksgiving table?
A newspaper editor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania gave their opinion as the Civil War raged in November 1864.
“We sincerely trust that Thanksgiving Day will not merely be made an occasion of gluttony, of debauchery and riotous intemperance.
It is not necessary that the nation should cram its maw with meats and fruits to testify its thankfulness for prosperity and victory in war.
Far more fitting will it be if the rich give unto the poor – if the healthy in body and soul cheer the sick…”
– The Harrisburg Evening Telegraph, November 23, 1864
Read more about Thanksgiving during the Civil War
Thanksgiving Day in Schuylkill County | 1864
Thanksgiving 1861 and a Pennsylvania Civil War Soldier’s Missing Turkey
A Thanksgiving Night bar-room murder in a Schuylkill County patch town | November 1868
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