This year, we are throwing it back almost 100 years, to Thanksgiving wishes from 1923. If you were stuck at college with your buddies for Thanksgiving in the 1920s, what would you do? Cook a meal? Throw a party? The Maryknollers studying at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC did all this and more. As well as eating too much and playing games, they sent Thanksgiving wishes to friends and family. Recently I found one of their cards!
This card sent Thanksgiving wishes to Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, Mother General of the Maryknoll Sisters. Mother Mary Joseph was a special figure to all the Maryknoll priests. Since many of them only saw their own mothers every few years, they regarded her as their mother-substitute. She was a friend, a teacher, a guide, and a comforter. So it’s no surprise that the student priests sent her a Thanksgiving greeting.
I can imagine it now. Fr. Considine, Fr. Cairns, and Fr. Cleary cutting cartoons from the local newspaper. Fr. Winslow, Fr. Connors, and Fr. O’Melia clipping everyone’s faces from magazines. And everyone banding together to write captions and paste everything in place. No one can say Maryknollers weren’t creative!
We hope you get a kick out of these Thanksgiving wishes from 1923, and have a wonderful holiday!
