Idaho Enterprise November 25, 1987
Stella Budge will join with other Americans this November 26th in celebrating the 364th Thanksgiving Holiday since the Pilgrims first held a feast December 4, 1623.
That Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days and was attended by 90 Massasoit Indians. Stella says she doesn’t plan anything to equal that, but her family “will get together” to enjoy the traditional turkey dinner so often associated with Thanksgiving.
The longtime Oneida County resident enjoys the holiday feast that brings family members together, but says it’s much different in the 1980:s than it was when she was growing up in Malad in the early 1900’s. Reminiscing, she describes a true meal of the family’s harvest in the days just following the turn of the century–everything homegrown prepared from scratch–truly the fruits of a year’s worth of labor.
A trip to the grocery store was for the purpose of stocking up on staples needed to prepare the Thanksgiving meal, she says, not to buy it already done. The frozen pies and rolls, stuffing that cooks in just 15 minutes, and pre-basted turkeys already cleaned and ready to pop into the oven are a far cry from the Thanksgivings of yesteryear.
“We didn’t even always have a turkey when I was growing up”, she remembers. “We did if we had one that we’d raised that year, but if we didn’t there’d be chicken in its place stuffed with dressing and all the trimmings to go with it….Nobody seemed to mind or even notice.”
Rolls were always homemade using flour made from grain grown and harvested the summer before and ground at the Crowther Mill in Malad. Even the yeast used to make them rise was homegrown. A jar of everlasting yeast always sat on the back of the cookstove in the kitchen.
The Thanksgiving meal was always cooked on our wood cook range in the kitchen, and a wood heat stove in the living room was also used to keep the family warm,
As a young girl, Stella remembers picking up wood and sticks to feed the stoves. It was a chore given to all children growing up at that time. Some of what was cooked on the kitchen stove made a lasting impression on the young girl’s mind and stomach.
“I know this may sound a little crazy,” she laughs, “but I still don’t think the homemade bread tastes as good today baked in modern ranges as it did when it was baked in the old time wood stoves years ago … It just tasted so good then coming out of the oven.”
Another ritual the stove served well was the heating of water for the Thanksgiving baths.
“We all bathed in the old tin tub the night before,” she remembers. Usually a bath was a luxury enjoyed only once a week, but on special holidays and occasions a midweek plunge in the tub was allowed.
The days before Thanksgiving were fun and exciting getting ready for the holiday feast, Stella remembers, and no one ever thought of Christmas until after it was over. There was the aroma of suet pudding and pumpkin pie that drifted all through the house, and the cream on the milk was saved for days for the homemade ice cream was surely to come. On Thanksgiving morning everyone always got a turn at cranking on the ice cream freezer, for there was never a Thanksgiving without homemade ice cream.
The hours following the meal were reserved for the family to get together and socialize. Since everyone’s family lived close by, there were always plenty of family members present. Gathered around the fire in the living room there would be family entertainment or the children would flock around the oldtime windup phonograph to play records.
“We had no television sets broadcasting a full afternoon of football to compete for our time back then,” Stella laughs.
One thing that was an absolute certainty on Thanksgiving Day in Malad in the early 1900’s was the Children’s Dance always held at the Church of the Seven Spires. The children from all over the valley would gather at the church and spend all afternoon dancing. “We were always taught to dance back then.” Stella says.
She tells how everyone would bring some of what they had left over from their Thanksgiving meal and then we’d snack on it all the rest of the day.”
The Children’s Dance over, that evening the adults would gather in the same hall for a Thanksgiving Ball of their own, tapping their toes to phonograph music or someone playing the organ and the violin. Everyone always had a wonderful time.
More often than not Stella remembers Malad Valley blanketed with snow on the November holiday, and if it was deep enough the children would usually get in a little sleigh riding time.
“It seemed like we used to get more snow back i those days than we do today.”she says.
To someone who is 90 years old, the differences between the Thanksgivings of yesterday and the Thanksgivings of today are many and varied, but one thing remains the same, Stella says with a glow.
“It’s still a wonderful time to get together with your family.”
And from us to you on Thanksgiving, 1987, Best wishes for a warm and happy holiday feast together with the ones you love.