39 Striking Vintage Thanksgiving Photos From The Past Century

By | November 24, 2016

Every photo in this article is a snapshot of a time when everything was a little bit more simple, at least on the outside. A time that people can look back on fondly is rarely something that's taken lightly, and it's never too soon to look back on happy memories. These rare moments, old photographs of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades, pictures of early-to-mid-20th century city dwellers enjoying their holiday, and mementos of traditions long gone are a reminder to cherish the present, because in the end it's all going to be history. 

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A rare photo of a young boy in Washington D.C. discovering his love of pumpkin pie, for starters, shows just the beginning of how much people have always loved Thanksgiving as a holiday. The 20th century showed such a huge change in what people saw this holiday as, that it's barely recognizable from where it started, but still has all the same heart, charm, and soul that it did back then. Here's what it looked like before most of you were born...

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"Thanksgiving maskers" were a tradition of people in the pre-Trick-Or-Treat era who were a leftover of the 19th century tradition where people would go door-to-door asking for money or food. Sometimes, these people would even play music in exchange for help in the form of money or food. This was before Halloween became the costumed holiday it is today, and was celebrated on Thanksgiving because people had the most spare food then, given that it's The U.S.'s day of giving, gratitude, and lovable gluttony. This rare photo shows just how different streets looked on Thanksgiving in the early 20th century.