Readers Remember

During the Great Depression, there was no work for my father and very little food in our home.

Thanksgiving was upon us, and in school, we children were drawing pictures of turkeys and tables laden with piles of beautiful food. Thanksgiving Day arrived but there was no turkey in our oven or pies set out to cool. Momma explained that the teacher was mistaken about the date and the seven of us sat down to a dinner of salmon loaf and a few potatoes.

That weekend, relatives came for a visit. Upon learning from us children about the teacher’s Thanksgiving mistake, they went shopping and came back with a turkey and all the trimmings.

When we returned to school, Momma made us promise not to correct our school chums or the teacher about the real date of Thanksgiving. That would be impolite.

PHYLLIS LILLY

Ridgecrest

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War was raging that Thanksgiving. It was not a happy time, and I wondered why I should be thankful. It was 1943, and I was 13. My father was fighting in the Pacific. My uncle was on a merchant ship and the other members of my family worked in war factories.

Most of the adults were working odd hours that day, so my grandmother--limited in choice by our family food-ration books--decided on a simple cold buffet that would be available when they arrived.

She wrote a simple prayer and placed it next to the food. It read, “Thanks for all those past and present, for the freedom we enjoy today. God bless America.”

JERRY McGLASSON

Buena Park

In 200 words or less, send us your memories of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com.