“Boys, I feel I’m going to a change of climate.” A vintage Thanksgiving card.
As fans of holiday ephemera know, there are several primary genres of Weird, Old-Timey Thanksgiving Cards. There is the Greedy Child. There is the Doomed Turkey. There is the Turkey in Vehicle, which is sometimes a Corncob Car. There is the Anthropomorphic Root Vegetable. It hardly needs saying that Thanksgiving pinups are a thing unto themselves. Sexy Pilgrims, under-dressed squaws, and women cooking in lingerie and filmy cocktail aprons are all fairly ubiquitous.
By far my favorite subgenre is that of the Urbane Turkey. This foppish specimen is usually in evening dress, so as to indicate his sophisticated couth. Needless to say, he sports a top hat. Sometimes a monocle, or a cigarette. All in all, he has the trappings of a big-screen rich nincompoop, which I suppose added a certain glee to his consumption.
The Urbane Turkey is not always complacent. Sometimes he’s a sharp. He’s in the know. This Urbane Turkey is the turkey who knows where to find the best feed and the keenest pea-hens.
As befits his man-of-the-world air, he smokes a cigar; and his citified duds are less Union Club than pool hall. This tom doesn’t take any wooden nickels; he sees the way the wind’s blowing and he’ll be out on the next train, before the axe is even sharpened. He doesn’t need pardoning; he makes his own luck....MOREFor some more examples of how truly awful the various genres can be see Vintage Everyday's:
20 Funny and Cute Vintage Thanksgiving Postcards
