Strange/Funny Vintage Ads From Thanksgiving Past

Thanksgiving is rapidly becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays -- it just doesn't seem to get much respect today, with retailers bombarding us with Christmas promotions right after Halloween. So maybe it's a little ironic that I found a slew of Thanksgiving advertising from decades past to poke fun at, but it's like they say: even bad publicity is better than none at all. So without further ado, here's a few ads from back in the day that gave me a couple of chuckles...and reminds me of a time when Thanksgiving seemed to be a little bit of a bigger deal to some consumer brands... 

Strange product juxtaposition here. Hey kids, looks like you've been photobombed by a 25 pound turkey landing on your heads. Kudos to supermom for having the strength to carry that tray with only one hand!

You know those odd Christmas crafts I posted last week? Those were child's play compared to making gelatin cranberry...and mayonnaise (cringe) CANDLES for your Thanksgiving table. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out. 

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a little father-son bonding time that involves slaughtering turkeys in your tighty-whities. These are the tender moments in life that memories are made of. 

Then again, nothing says Thanksgiving meal like cigarettes. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and...Lucky Strikes. Thanksgiving also makes me think of...magicians and fortune tellers? Huh?

Then there's that other family Thanksgiving tradition, taking photos of grandma and grandpa murdering the holiday dinner. 

Now I know where Snoopy got the idea to serve popcorn to the Peanuts gang on Thanksgiving. 

Way before Boston Market existed, lazy ass Americans who didn't want to cook a Thanksgiving meal had Banquet TV dinners to fall back on. "Ye Indians" are hungry; ye overly politically correct people are probably upset about the use of the word indians. 

As a native New Englander who has lived in Massachusetts her entire life, I can honestly say I've never seen nor heard of this infamous "New England Yam Bake." Kraft makes it sound like something that should be as iconic as Boston Baked Beans. Didn't anyone from the company notice that pineapples are not native to New England? 

Mutt and Jeff shill the annual Klamath Falls Turkey Genocide. Heck, I'd go just for the penny arcade and the chance to see that mother and baby monkey, for free. 

Mmmmmm....sure can't wait for those leftovers this year!

I'm a knitter and yet I don't have the slightest idea what the craft, yarn, or Sue Brett has to do with Thanksgiving, but I dig the chick's dress, tights, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman hairdo!