1939: Paul Brown sharpens his ax while the condemned birds look on.
1939: Four-year-old Paul Brown, son of Deputy Sheriff Edward M. Brown of West Falmouth, carries a man’s-size axe among the turkeys on the farm of his neighbor and friend F. E. Shaw.
1939: School children in a Thanksgiving play.
1941: L to R: Thomas Baldwin, of Park Falls, WI of the U.S. Army; Thomas Smith of Battle Creek, Mich. of the U.S. Marines and Joseph Fitzgerald, of Long Island of the U.S. Navy. The original caption, with the headline 'Fighters Blitz a Turkey,' read: Smiling broadly are these members of Uncle Sam’s fighting forces who took no chances about getting a turkey for Thanksgiving Day.
1943: Walter M. Eaton, Jr., of 94 1/2 Middle Street seems delighted with a Thanksgiving piglet. There was a shortage of turkeys during the war so other meats were served. It is unclear if the piglet is actually alive.
1944: Charles Lawler Bruns, boatswain’s mate, 2/c USN, and the fifth generation of his family to fight for his country, nibbles a celery stick as he watches his mother, Mrs. Beatrice M. Bruns of 53 Berwick Street, get the turkey ready. It was the first time in two years that Boatswain Mate Bruns was home for Thanksgiving dinner. He was going to sharpen his appetite for it at the Deering-Portland High School Thanksgiving Day game at Portland High School Stadium. A graduate of PHS in 1942, Bruns played tackle for the Blue in the Turkey Day classic. A veteran of the Normandy invasion, Boatswain Mate Bruns was one of a crew of 25 saved when their LST went down off Normandy after it struck a mine. The Navy cited the survivors for shooting down several enemy dive bombers while their vessel was sinking. Bruns had been in the Navy two years. His ancestors fought in the Indian wars, Civil War, Spanish American War and WWI.
1944: Paul S. Stevens, seven-year-old son of Lt.and Mrs. John Calvin Stevens of Ivy Road, Cape Elizabeth, and his brother Joel, 3 1/2. The caption published with this photograph said that Paul was trying to 'remedy the turkey shortage situation in pioneer style' while his father was on active sea duty.
1944: Dana Smith, captain of the Deering football team and, r., Walter Kopack, Portland High School’s captain.
1945: Mrs. William T. Parker had plenty of help stuffing her turkey, as her son, William Jr., right, and his buddy, James. H. Roach, Jr. who were prisoners of the Japanese, lend a hand in preparations for their first Thanksgiving home in five years. Cpl. Parker, 28 and Cpl. Roach fought in the Philippines campaign and endured the "Bataan death march, days of agonized toiling in Japanese construction gangs, days of weariness and despair in mills and mines of the enemy homeland." After being captured, Parker worked on the docks and in the steal mills of Osaka while Roach was kept in the Philippines at first, falling victim to pneumonia, malaria, beri-beri and “just about every disease that came along.” His weight, which at the time of this photograph was 185, dropped to 105 lbs. Both Parker and Roach were in Japan when the Japanese surrendered. The Japanese “turned us loose in the Kyushu hills for 30 days. We took over the town of Iizuka, the police station and all supplies, including a brewery. Boy, what a night! Later on I (Parker) went down to see Roach and he had two chickens and a rabbit under his bed.”
1946: Navy cooks on the destroyer tender Yosemite begin to prepare 400 pounds of turkey for Thanksgiving. They are working in the galley of the ship tied up a the Grand Trunk navy pier. It is unclear who is overseeing their work.
1946: A rally at Portland High School to work up enthusiasm for the Thanksgiving day football game.
1946: Deering High School Thanksgiving rally.
1952: Jim Smaha, Deering High School football captain, does a little Saturday work for his father’s market. Deering was hoping that not one of the Portland High School football team would eat their turkey in a happy frame of mind.
1955: Seriously stuffing the turkey.
1955: Mrs. Cora Pennell's family Thanksgiving gathering was so large it had to be held in the Pleasant Hill Community Hall in Falmouth. Making wishes with their great-grandmother are left to right, Patricia Ann White, Barbara and Stephen Douglas.
1956: Principal Rutherford M. Drummond of Falmouth High School, right, turned deliveryman to aid the Future Homemakers of the school in providing Thanksgiving baskets for the needy of the town. He was aided by Brian Farwell, a senior. Pupils packed the baskets and Drummond and Mrs. Mary Conroy, home economics teacher, delivered them to protect the identity of the recipients.
1957: Deering’s Mike Simpson sprints 29 yards on a third down punt formation Statue of Liberty. Chasing the Ram ace are Gary Arnold (25), Frank Johnson (41) and Leroy Stover (40).
1957: Deering High School head coach Phil Caminiti gets the traditional free ride off the field on the shoulders of his charges following the Purple’s decisive win over Portland High School in the Thanksgiving Day Classic which was watched by 9,500 attendees.
1957: No counter space.
1963: Donald Cote holds a turkey.
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