Pardoning the Thanksgiving Raccoon?
Dear Tastorians,
First, allow me to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported the Tasting History Board Game on Kickstarter. I'm so happy with how the game is evolving and can't wait to see it in its final form. There's still time to back the game before the campaign ends on November 12, so if you love board games like I do, here's the link:
Back Tasting History: The Board Game on Kickstarter
Now, November is the month of Thanksgiving (at least here in the US), and everyone knows the traditional meat served at Thanksgiving is Turkey. It's also become customary for the President to "pardon" a turkey, sending it off to live on a farm rather than ending up on the dinner table. But in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge spared not a turkey, but a raccoon.
That November, a supporter from Mississippi sent a live raccoon to the White House, suggesting that it would make a delicious Thanksgiving meal. While this may sound a little nuts to us, eating raccoon wasn't all that uncommon in the 1920s, especially in the South. But the Coolidges were from Vermont and had no interest in roasting a raccoon for Thanksgiving. Instead, Calvin and his wife, Grace, decided to keep the animal as a pet and named her Rebecca. Rebecca Raccoon.
Rebecca quickly became a beloved resident of the White House, though she often ran amok, evading staffers, climbing trees, knocking over plants, and unscrewing jar lids. She was, after all, a raccoon. Her favorite activity, according to First Lady Grace Coolidge, was playing in a partly filled bathtub with a cake of soap. So at least Rebecca was a clean raccoon.
That Christmas, President Coolidge gave Rebecca an embroidered collar bearing the title "White House Raccoon", and the following Easter, Rebecca joined the First Lady during the annual White House Egg Roll where Grace held her in her arms, occasionally setting Rebecca down to allow the children to pet her.
Feeling that Rebecca needed companionship, a White House policeman brought in a second raccoon, a male named Horace. But Calvin didn't care for the name Horace and renamed him Reuben. Alas, Reuben and Rebecca never really hit it off. Reuben was even more of a troublemaker than she was. He once escaped onto Pennsylvania Avenue, stopping traffic for half an hour. Eventually, he escaped the White House grounds for good, leaving Rebecca to once again be the sole White House raccoon.
Unfortunately, raccoons do not make great pets, especially indoor pets, as their life's mission is to destroy things. So when the Coolidges left the White House in 1929, Rebecca was sent to live at the Rock Creek Zoo so she could spend time with others of her species.
I'm sad to say, we currently have several raccoons who routinely destroy the plants in our backyard. Here is an image of the ringleader, Diggory, whom Jose managed to catch on camera. A guilty face if ever I saw one.
I also wanted to let you know that I've brought back the Tasting History pins which sold out last year well before Christmas. They'll soon be available as magnets, too! Along with last year's designs, there are three new ones, all created by my Patreon patron Georgina. You can see more of her wonderful work at https://www.primalarc.com/
The pins are available now at https://crowdmade.com/collections/tastinghistory
Pins are a little smaller than they appear on the apron
And now for a few things I thought you might enjoy:
Houdini Straightjacket Escape - Houston Texas (1923) - Video of Harry Houdini escaping a straitjacket in 1923.
1975: Fyfe Robertson's Thoughts For Food | Robbie | BBC Archive - Fyfe Robertson discusses the changes in British eating habits in 1975. It's perfectly charming. I especially enjoy the section at the grocer which begins at 09:30.
Halloween In The 1920s - A wonderful channel talks about how we celebrated Halloween in the 1920s.
Last Month’s Videos
Serving it forth,
Max