Thanksgiving is a special celebration, full of traditions and happy memories. During World War II, Thanksgiving came to be seen as symbolic of everything America was fighting for. For people in Spokane, the holiday offered a defiant hope that things would get better.
Spokane On the Eve of World War II
Long celebrated in New England, Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the fourth Thursday in November. This lengthened the holiday shopping season to boost the country’s still struggling economy. Many people grumbled, but the new date stuck.
Eastern Washington University has put together a fantastic online walking tour about World War II in Spokane.
With global tensions mounting, the U.S. Army expanded its existing facility at Felts Field and purchased Spokane’s Sunset Field in 1941, transforming it into Geiger Field, a training, maintenance, and supply air depot. Fort George Wright became a base hospital and later a convalescent center. An additional military hospital, Baxter General Hospital, was built in 1942.
For Thanksgiving 1941, mere weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, churches, individuals, and other organizations joined together to arrange for families to share their holiday meals with soldiers. Over 600 were hosted!
The troops that had to remain on base were not forgotten either. At the Geiger Field mess hall, 600 men devoured 600 pounds of turkey, 300 pounds of potatoes, six gallons of olives, two crates of celery, 250 pounds of assorted nuts, three cases of oranges, three boxes of apples, 40 pumpkin pies and 60 mincemeat pies.
World War II Comes to Spokane
After Pearl Harbor, everything changed. America was now at war. In the midst of the war’s heartache and fear, Thanksgiving became both a patriotic expression and a rebellion against the prevailing gloom. It symbolized everything America was fighting for.
Writing in the Spokesman-Review, Dorothy Dean’s home economics advice column agreed, proclaiming to her readers that “Bound up in the pattern of our national fabric is the harvest time, homespun tradition of thankfulness. And today, Thanksgiving, 1944, finds America and her allies giving thanks. They are thankful for the blessings which have been bestowed upon them. Though there have been heartaches and suffering, there is just cause for thanks this day, and we offer it as a solemn duty and privilege…. Under present conditions, we not only give thanks for a plentiful harvest for our own use, but are grateful that this harvest may be shared with other nations in helping to win the war.”
Using low-sugar recipes for cranberry sauce, skipping mincemeat pie, and not having whipped cream on pies would not have felt like much of a sacrifice with their sons and brothers giving their all on the war’s frontlines. Guilt at their nation’s plenty would have been eased by the fact that most Thanksgiving food—especially the mainstays of turkey, potatoes, and cranberries—were not rationed.
Simplicity was the holiday’s theme, and, in the wartime spirit, even the holiday’s waste could fight for victory. Donated “Thanksgiving grease,” fats salvage commissioner Paul Ripps told the Spokesman-Review in 1942, could be “used to lay waste to the enemy.” Collected duck, goose and pork grease would be made into glycerin, a key component in explosives. The commission did not want turkey grease.
Welcoming Soldiers to Spokane
Gasoline and tire rationing kept most families at home for Thanksgiving. But for soldiers stationed in the Spokane area, the holiday could be a painful reminder that they were far from home.
People in Spokane joined together to help them feel welcome. The USO connected soldiers on leave with families who wanted to share their Thanksgiving dinner in their homes. The city’s three USO clubs hosted buffet dinners. Other organizations also hosted soldiers on the holiday. In 1943, for example, the families at the Triangle Grange at Fairfield welcomed soldiers and sailors to a hearty Thanksgiving dinner at their hall.
Military bases served big holiday dinners in the mess hall while the USO brought the party to patients and staff at the local military hospitals. The USO organized Thanksgiving dinners, bringing in entertainers including musical and comedy acts.
Victory and Peace
By Thanksgiving 1945, the war was finally over. Peace had come at last. “Solemnity was mingled with general rejoicing,” the “Spokesman-Review” commented on the day, “in remembrance of the sacrifices that made Thanksgiving a day of peace and of the continuing suffering in other nations.”
Spokane was eager to help rebuild a world torn apart by war. The theme of the annual joint Thanksgiving services at Spokane churches sponsored by the Spokane Ministerial Association was “Save the Children of Europe.” Attendees were encouraged to donate clothes, shoes, linens and bedding for children, as well as cash. Nearly $1,000 was collected.
The holiday also found most military members still far from home. Over 1,000 attended the Thanksgiving party at the 24th and Monroe Street USO Club. There was a dinner and dance at Baxter Hospital.
Thanksgiving 1945 was a holiday of relief and expectation. This holiday marked one step closer to the time when Spokane families would reunite with their loved ones. For others, though, the empty chair at the holiday table would never be filled again.
But while the heartache of the war years remained strong, peace brought the promise that things were getting better. Thanksgiving 1945 was a time for Americans to both reflect on the hardships of the war years and to celebrate peace and their country’s blessings with new gratitude. The future of America was looking bright.
