This lesser-known Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving painting graced the cover of the November 28, 1942 Saturday Evening Post. Note the menu for a brigade dinner at Ft. Ethan Allen, Vermont.
Rockwell lived in Arlington, Vermont and often used Vermont people and settings for his subjects. The real-life identity of this bedraggled Army cook is not known.
The ’71st Brigade’ wasn’t the famed Devil’s Brigade (forerunners of U.S. Army Special Forces) wasn’t posted at the Fort until spring of 1943, according to Wikipedia:
“After amphibious training at Chesapeake Bay in April 1943, they traveled to Fort Ethan Allen near Burlington, Vermont, in May 1943. They received rubber raft training on Lake Champlain and endured 50-mile hikes at Fort Ethan Allen.”
But I digress! Happy Thanksgiving to all of the cooks and the thankful people they’re cooking for.
– Guy Page
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Categories: Letter from the Publisher
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to the Vermont Daily Chronicle Team!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and the crew! Yours is the only Vermont news outlet I trust.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Just a fun side note: My uncle was painted by Mr. Rockwell. He was the Chairman of the Rationing Board in Arlington during the war, WW2 that is. His name was James Riley McCooey. The painting was not a cover for The Saturday Evening Post but was printed inside. The original painting is in private ownership, but reprints can be had. I purchased one for one of my uncle’s sons as well as one for my mother. It is one of the things my family used to brag about. But of course, nowadays, no one cares about such things. They don’t even know who Rockwell is, much less TSEP.
My Uncle Jim was possessed of a very dry wit, typical of older New Englanders. Sadly, I was too young when he passed to appreciate him. Or write down any of his stories. His sister, my grandmother, did however write down many of these stories and self-published them c. 1975 in a memoir/family history. I have been working on updating this for years with the intention of republishing it.
To the Staff of VDC and the readers….
Hope you all had a wonderful day with family/friends and enjoyed a day of fine food and good company and shared many stories. And thankful for all of those that had to be apart from their family and friends to fulfill the needs of the community by working as first responders, health care providers, gas station attendants and sadly, those commercial outlets that felt they must be open on the holiday.
Fondly,
Pam Baker