General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Things I don't miss about old-fashioned, Norman Rockwell era Thanksgivings. [View all]pnwmom
(108,980 posts)wouldn't you say? People have fantasies of how Thanksgiving used to be, compared to now, based on that sanitized image. But it masks what was really going on for many families.
Back in the 50's, were any of your relatives comfortable being out and bringing gay partners to the celebration? If so, that was pretty unusual and you were very lucky. Same thing if you had no smokers in your family in the 50's, blowing tar and nicotine into the kids' lungs, and no one ever had too much to drink.
My immediate family when I was growing up didn't have ALL of those behaviors at Thanksgiving. There were no racial jokes, for example -- I was subjected to that at other people's Thanksgivings I attended in the 70's. My list was a compilation of less than wonderful aspects of many Thanksgivings over the years -- a reality check for people who think things were so much better in the past.
But that perfect world never existed, except in the imaginations of the people who want it to.