Funny Photos of Classic Hollywood Stars Walking the Turkey

During the Golden Age of Hollywood, it was a common publicity stunt for movie studios to stage seasonal photo shoots featuring their biggest stars posing with live turkeys for Thanksgiving. These publicity photos were part of a coordinated, seasonal effort by major studios to promote their contract players. Studio photographers and publicity departments would create fun, campy, and often glamorous images to keep the stars and their upcoming films in the public eye during the holiday season.

The pictures offered a playful contrast to the stars’ typically glamorous on-screen images, humanizing them for the public. These images were often sent to magazines and newspapers nationwide to generate buzz.

Bette Davis

Virginia Gibson

Barbara Bates

Vera Ellen

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‘Freedom from Want’ – The Story Behind Norman Rockwell’s Iconic Thanksgiving Painting in 1943

Freedom from Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Picture or I’ll Be Home for Christmas, is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell. The works were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms.

Norman Rockwell, Freedom from Want, 1943, oil on canvas.

After the US entered the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, these four freedoms were emphasized to restore morale during the wartime years. In June of 1942, Rockwell started sketching paintings based on each of the freedoms, encouraged by the editor of the Saturday Evening Post. Each of Rockwell’s completed paintings ran next to Four Freedom essay features in four Saturday Evening Post newspapers in 1943.

For his subjects, Rockwell chose those close to home. The setting was his living room and the woman bringing in the turkey was based off a photograph Rockwell took of his cook in the same position on Thanksgiving 1942. His wife and mother are portrayed as sitting around the table, as well as neighbors and friends. As Rockwell later said of the turkey, “Our cook cooked it, I painted it and we ate it. That was one of the few times I’ve ever eaten the model.”

1943 poster showing all four paintings.

The U.S. government used Rockwell’s paintings as a way to boost patriotism and encourage the purchase of war bonds, which were securities to support the war effort abroad. The government collected a sum of about $132 million. The images were so popular that by the end of the 20th century, it is said 25 million people had bought Four Freedom prints and posters.

Although frequently distributed and exhibited throughout the country, Freedom of Want was disliked in Europe, which was being ravaged by war. Rockwell said, “The Europeans sort of resented it because it wasn’t freedom from want, it was overabundance, the table was so loaded down with food.”

Norman Rockwell, Freedom from Want, 1943, offset color lithograph on paper.

Today, all four of the Four Freedom paintings can be found at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to which they were given directly by Rockwell himself. Over the past century, the work has been used for many parodies throughout popular culture, from illustrations and cartoons to TV and film reenactments.

Freedom From Want, especially, is part of the American art canon because of its historical significance as a patriotic representation to finance war bonds, but also as a portrayal of the American Dream. Considered Rockwell’s most famous painting, it echoes his other themes of American regionalism and genre painting: struggle and success, family and food, patriotism and justice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(via Barnebys Magazine)

22 Awkward Pin-Up Photos of Hollywood Starlets Posing With Turkeys for Thanksgiving

Pinup looks work great for pretty much every other holiday. Thanksgiving? Not so much.

The tradition of Hollywood starlets posing with turkeys or engaging in Thanksgiving-themed photoshoots dates back to the golden age of Hollywood. These promotional images were often staged by film studios to showcase their stars in festive, relatable, and playful scenarios during the holiday season.

In the 1930s through the 1950s, these photos often featured glamorous actresses dressed in period-appropriate styles—like elegant gowns or chic autumn outfits—posing with live turkeys. These images were used in magazines, newspapers, and other promotional materials, blending Hollywood glitz with a sense of down-to-earth Americana.

Have a great Thanksgiving, and enjoy these promotional photos of starlets in Turkey Day poses.

Adelle August, 1954

Angela Greene

Ann Miller

Anne Shirley, 1934

Barbara Bates, 1950

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Nov. 27, 1924: The Bear Mountain Bridge Opened With 5,000+ Vehicles Crossing the Span on Thanksgiving Day 1924

On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1924, the Bear Mountain Bridge was opened to the general public after being formally dedicated the day prior, with a crush of cars lined up to be first across.

It was a groundbreaking engineering achievement for its time, being the first vehicular bridge over the Hudson River south of Albany and the first suspension bridge with a concrete deck. For a brief period, it also held the title of “bridge with the longest suspended span in the world.” Many consider the innovations with the Bear Mountain Bridge to have spurred a boom in bridge building in New York State and the entire country in the years following. Originally built by a private enterprise funded by the Harriman family, the bridge would come under the ownership of NYSBA in 1940.

Sometime during the late phases of construction in 1924, workers and others affiliated with the project posed for a photograph, both on the steel tower and on the deck below. Not much is known about who is in the original photo or who was behind the camera. However, it resurfaced nearly a century later, when local historian Frank Goderre came across it and brought it to the attention of NYSBA and HBHV.

Early Friendsgiving at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, 1973

The term ‘Friendsgiving’ might be relatively new but the alternative Thanksgiving with friends certainly isn’t, as this particularly starry gathering at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California shows. The 1973 Thanksgiving meal saw the club filled with long tables, seated with guests including John Lennon, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, Alice Cooper, Harry Nilsson, Anne Murray and among others.

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Funny Vintage Photos of Hollywood Starlets Posing With Axes for Thanksgiving

It’s time for that solemn annual tradition: a thread of creepy old Hollywood Thanksgiving stills! The stills often gave starlets the opportunity to embrace their inner axe murderer...

Mary Philbin

Adelle August

Barabara Kent

Doris Day

Dusty Anderson

Jeanne Crain

30 Amazing Thanksgiving Menus of US Hotels From the Late 19th Century

These days, the typical American Thanksgiving menu is pretty standardized: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie. Back in the late 19th century, when the holiday’s status as a national observance was still relatively new, those dishes were already being consumed but holiday menus of the time could show a little variety. For example, on Nov. 30, 1899, at the Plaza Hotel, you could get turkey stuffed with chestnuts for $0.75—or sweetbreads, cooked “Parisienne” style, for a dollar.

That Plaza menu is just one of many historical bills of fare that have been digitized by the New York Public Library’s “What’s on the Menu?” project. The Library has 45,000 menus dating as far back as the 1840s. Below is a selection of 30 amazing vintage Thanksgiving menus from the late 19th century (click on each image to view it larger):

Hotel Duquesne, 1889

Hotel Normandie, 1889

Murray Hill Hotel, 1891

Occidental Hotel, 1891

The Portland, 1891

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Happy Thanksgiving From Jeanne Crain and Her Doomed Turkey, 1946

Here we see actress Jeanne Crain sharpening an ax before using it to slay this turkey, who appears to be none-the-wiser. Poor thing, here it thought it was just arriving on set to take a few pictures...

Wonderful Creations of “America’s Puppet Master” Tony Sarg

Anthony Frederick Sarg (1880–1942), known professionally as Tony Sarg, was a German American puppeteer and illustrator. Born in Cobán, Guatemala, Sarg later took up residence in the United Kingdom in 1905. After World War I broke out, he settled the family in New York City in 1915. In 1920, Sarg became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

He had been raised around puppets, inherited his grandmother’s collection of them, developed them as a hobby that enhanced the impression he made on other artists, and finally in 1917, turned them into a profession.

In 1928, he designed, and his protégé Bil Baird built tethered helium-filled balloons up to 125 feet long, resembling animals, for the New York institution of Macy’s department store. This work involved a number of puppetry-related principles. These creations were featured in the store's Thanksgiving Day parade. In 1935, he undertook the puppet-related work of designing Macy's elaborate animated window display, which was shown between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Take a look at these wonderful creations of the puppet master through 15 fascinating pictures below:

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Awkward Vintage Photos of 30 Classic Hollywood Stars Posing With Turkeys

Ready for Thanksgiving? Get in the spirit with Hollywood stars and turkeys!

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and Thanksgiving 2021 occurs on Thursday, November 25. In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in 1621. 

Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.

Lois Lindsay

Dusty Anderson

Leila Hyams

Virginia Gibson

Angela Greene

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Funny Vintage Photographs Show How Classic Movie Stars Celebrating Thanksgiving From the 1950s and 1960s

Thanksgiving is just around the corner for Americans who will celebrate the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Before you gobble down the big dinner, feast your eyes on these images of some 1950s and ’60s stars.

Here are 10 Thanksgiving photos from some of the mid-century’s TV and movie icons. Maybe you’ll find inspiration for your pilgrim costume or just get a laugh by seeing stars being goofy around turkeys.

Barbara Bates dressing a turkey.

Debbie Reynolds proves she can cook a turkey.

Esther Williams hunting her dinner.

Doris Day singing to a turkey?

Audrey Hepburn feeds some turkeys.

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