Life Back Then: What Kids Were Thankful For in 1948

Young voices from Saline’s “The Reporter,” November 25, 1948

In the Thanksgiving week edition of The Reporter back in November 1948, the paper turned its attention to the county’s youngest citizens. Kids from Ann Arbor and Manchester were asked a simple question: What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving season?

Seven-year-old Thomas Richardson from Ann Arbor took a straightforward approach. He was thankful that his family “have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner” and that Christmas was just around the corner. Five-year-old Gordon Crawford, also from Ann Arbor, showed remarkable discipline for someone in kindergarten. He reported he wasn’t eating much all week so he could be “good and hungry when Thanksgiving dinner is ready.”

Some answers carried the unmistakable stamp of rural life. Twelve-year-old Keith Fox of Manchester said he was thankful for school, but mostly because “I have only six more years to go.” After that, he’d be joining his father full-time on the farm. Fellow Manchester student Joanne Mobley, 11, was more grateful for the practical holiday perk: no school at all. “There’s nothing wrong with going to school,” she explained, “but staying home and eating all day is lots nicer.”

Food, unsurprisingly, ranked high on the gratitude list. Eight-year-old Harry Sturtevant looked forward to dinner at his cousin’s house, proudly noting that both his grandmother and cousin were “good cooks,” and that this would be “the best meal in the whole year.” He also offered a bold prediction about his future, saying he weighed only 60 pounds now but expected to reach 160 after enough good eating.

But the most heartfelt thanks came from 13-year-old Norman Felldamp, whose father had been hospitalized for more than two months. With his dad finally coming home, Norman summed it up simply: “That’s enough to be thankful for.”