Thanksgiving, 1944

Imagine it’s Thanksgiving, eighty years ago. It’s 1944 and World War II had been widely predicted from authoritative sources to be over by Thanksgiving, certainly in Europe. Instead, American troops were in a full-scale attack on the German western bulwark, the Siegfried Line. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest, actually a series of battles fought from September 19 to December 16, 1944, the second longest battle the U.S. Army had ever fought, was being conducted largely on foot due to challenging weather and a terrain of dense forests and muddy ridges. Making sure these and other troops got a real Thanksgiving turkey dinner was a goal to which the Army made a serious commitment. It was a morale boost the troops desperately needed and deserved, and civilians did their part in making it happen.

The Bossier newspaper the Planters Press reported that the government began as early as July 17, 1944 purchasing turkeys for the armed forces. The planning for the effort had begun in June. On Sept 21, 1944, the Planters Press reported that the US Army is trying to see to it that “every soldier eats turkey on Thanksgiving Day” and that the biggest turkey crop in years assured plenty for everyone, soldier and civilian alike.

However, the federal Farm War News column that appeared in papers across the country, including the Bossier Banner, relayed the news to the American public that though the turkey crop was an excellent one that year, the federal War Food Administration, which was responsible for the production and distribution of food to meet war and civilian needs, that there were enough turkeys to only fully meet the military demand. Turkeys were still under embargo for civilians, not yet available for them to purchase. The embargo was running later than the previous year, the Farm War News reported, because the military requirements were much larger and because, like most facilities, there was a labor shortage in the processing plants.

Civilians were facing a similar shortage with another traditional Thanksgiving must-have, cranberries. The Planters Press reported in the end of September, 1944, that servicemen and women were expected to have more cranberries available for their holiday dinners than they had in 1943, but less would be available to civilians.

The good Thanksgiving dinner news, for at least some fortunate diners on the home front, was that Shreveport-Bossier District officials of the Office of Price Administration announced a cap on holiday dinner prices at restaurants. Anyone who got their Thanksgiving Day meal in a restaurant could not be charged more than the holiday meals of the previous year.

Given the usual boxed, ready-to-eat K-ration fare of the soldiers in the field, it’s likely that few civilians would have begrudged the restricted sale of the turkeys and cranberries. The most poignant deprivation at Thanksgiving dinners on the home front, of course, was evidenced by empty seats at family dinner tables, especially after having been buoyed by the summer’s announcements that the war should be over by Thanksgiving. Even stateside relatives often could not get together for the holidays, with train seats needed for troops, and rubber and gas shortages minimizing car travel.

President Roosevelt, in his Proclamation 2629 announcing the official date of Thanksgiving 1944 as November 23rd, delivered a speech to remind the war-weary nation of reasons and ways to continue to be thankful: 

In this year of liberation, which has seen so many millions freed from tyrannical rule, it is fitting that we give thanks with special fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies we have received individually and as a nation and for the blessings He has restored, through the victories of our arms and those of our allies, to His children in other lands.

For the preservation of our way of life from the threat of destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of an enduring peace, we should lift up our hearts in thanksgiving….

From the staff of the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving and time spent with family or friends. We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive (formerly called 850 City Hall Drive) just across Beckett Street from the old Central Library and History Center) in Bossier City, LA. For the week of Thanksgiving, all Bossier Parish Libraries locations will be closed Thursday, November 28 through Saturday, November 30. Normal operating hours for Bossier Central Library and History Center are M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• A corporal (Leo Kaller) celebrating Thanksgiving on the Siegfried Line in November, 1944. United States Army photo via Wikimedia Commons.
• Cartoon about train seat shortage from the Bossier Banner Progress, November 16, 1944.

Article by: Pam Carlisle.