Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott

I don't suppose anyone would be surprised to be told of the draw I have to yesteryear. : o ) I reread Louisa May Alcott's Old Fashioned Thanksgiving and was pulled in by the images and story. While I was tempted to copy and paste almost the entire story *wink* I realize that would take all the fun out of the story. So I limited myself to two of my favorite portions and linked the story below. If you enjoy cozy cottage scenes and family play, you'll probably enjoy it like me!


"Eph kept up a glorious fire, and superintended the small boys, who popped corn and whittled boats on the hearth; while Roxy and Rhody dressed corncob dolls in the settle corner, and Bose, the brindled mastiff, lay on the braided mat, luxuriously warming his old legs. Thus employed, they made a pretty picture, these rosy boys and girls, in their homespun suits, with the rustic toys or tasks which most children nowadays would find very poor or tiresome."
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Eph took his fiddle and scraped away to his heart`s content in the parlor, while the girls, after a short rest, set the table and made all ready to dish up the dinner when that exciting moment came. It was not at all the sort of table we see now, but would look very plain and countrified to us, with its green-handled knives, and two-pronged steel forks, its red-and-white china, and pewter platters, scoured till they shone, with mugs and spoons to match, and a brown jug for the cider. The cloth was coarse, but white as snow, and the little maids had seen the blue-eyed flax grow, out of which their mother wove the linen; they had watched and watched while it bleached in the green meadow. They had no napkins and little silver; but the best tankard and Ma`s few wedding spoons were set forth in state. Nuts and apples at the corners gave an air, and the place of honor was left in the middle for the oranges yet to come.

"Don`t it look beautiful?" said Prue, when they paused to admire the general effect.

The story is here