Take a look back at the evolution of Thanksgiving traditions — and holiday meals — from the 1940s through the 1990s, plus see how the best parts of the past have influenced our modern-day celebrations!
Vintage Thanksgiving
Love the idea of vintage Thanksgiving celebrations? Here, get dozens of classic pumpkin pie recipes, traditional Thanksgiving main courses and side dishes, some holiday history and so much more!
Get ready for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with the help of these old-fashioned stuffing recipe, made with simple ingredients and fresh foods.
Take a look back at how people celebrated Thanksgiving Day with these antique Thanksgiving postcards from around the turn of the century!
Though many have tried, no cook has ever been able to improve upon the taste of traditional pumpkin pie. Carnation’s famous pumpkin pie recipe is a Thanksgiving classic – and we have the ’50s recipe right here.
If you want to serve something different this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas, a retro cranberry souffle salad may be just the thing! Bring back some of the flair of the fifties with these unusual little side dishes.
Pumpkin pie doesn’t have to be light in color and light on flavor! Try these recipes for dark and delicious old-fashioned pumpkin pie with molasses & brown sugar – and see some other tasty variations, too!
Remember vintage TV dinners — shiny foil trays filled with delicious-looking dinner delights, waiting in the freezer for a special night? Plus find out the history of TV dinners!
With a little thought and care – plus the inspiration of these lush holiday table settings of yore – you can create unforgettably nostalgic Christmas table settings that will be remembered for years to come.
If you’re having a party, consider these 12 cheese ball recipes! These tidbits provide a good color, taste and texture contrast to other foods, and can be made ahead of time, too — even several days ahead to suit your convenience.
Serving canned cranberry sauce this year? Don’t be shy about getting out the jellied stuff, because it turns out you can do lots of cute and creative things with it, from making little turkey cutouts to eye-catching Christmas trees.
How long do you need to cook your turkey? While making a roasted turkey for Thanksgiving is about as vintage American as it gets, our turkey cooking times and tips offered here are based on the most up-to-date standards.
This retro cranberry pumpkin bread recipe makes for a breakfast or dessert filled with warm flavor from just the right blend of fall spices, plus a little bit of a tart kick from the popular autumn fruit, cranberries.
Want to know how to make the perfect turkey gravy? Here’s a great classic recipe, plus four delicious gravy variations – easy ways to increase your gravy’s wow factor!
Here’s a tasty holiday menu you probably haven’t seen before: Truman Capote’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes! Find a collection of delicious vintage dishes here.
Once you have made your perfect pumpkin pie – using the classic Libby’s pie recipe or another version – you might want to accent your delicious dessert with one of these tasty pumpkin pie toppings!
What could be better to get a holiday party rolling than a creamy, festive olive cheese ball? This recipe comes from the 70s, which was pretty much the golden age of cheese spreads.
More than good, Libby’s pumpkin pie is smooth, gently spicy, and perfect! Get the classic pie you love – the original vintage recipe is right here, with our very own step-by-step photos to guide you.
Use up your extra turkey in a new way – make this tasty turkey cheese ball! It’s a great appetizer for Thanksgiving, or you can use holiday leftovers to make a retro snack with this rich spread.
If you think your quest for the best pumpkin pie recipe has only just begun, we have news for you: you’ve just found the vintage recipe motherlode. Which is the best pie? Try some and decide!
What is a pumpkin roll? It’s a lightly-spiced pumpkin cake, jelly roll-style — filled with sweet, fluffy cream cheese. Try this retro version from the 70s!
Whether you’re looking for basic sweet potato recipes or need some ideas for Thanksgiving side dishes, these 41 classic sweet potato recipes cover the gamut, from main dishes to desserts!
Pecan pumpkin pie adds the rich flavor of pecans in a crunchy top layer. Corn syrup is combined with canned pumpkin and eggs for a fast, smooth custard filling.
Raise a glass, retro-style! Get Glacier highball, Christmas sparkler, Kris Kringle punch & vintage holiday punch and classic cocktail recipes for a holiday party
Cranberries have become traditional for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners — and these 20 homemade cranberry sauce recipes will help you deliciously add the ruby-red jewel to your feasts!
To many Americans living south of the Mason-Dixon line, sweet potatoes must be made with marshmallows! Here are 6 ways to make old-fashioned marshmallow sweet potatoes for a Thanksgiving side dish!
Something new has happened to pumpkin pie: Double layer pumpkin cheesecake pies! Cream cheese blends perfectly with spicy pumpkin, and bakes up smooth and creamy.
If you want to try something new that’s actually old for Thanksgiving, try making this homemade pie crust recipe from 1950!
Everyone will love the taste of fall in these delicious vintage Libby’s pumpkin recipes! Pie is only the beginning.
If you’re looking for a vintage-style dessert for a special occasion, check out our collection of more than 100 classic cake recipes to suit all tastes!
Get retro Thanksgiving recipes for turkey fondue with horseradish sauce; winter garden salad; caramel rum pumpkin cake; ham supreme in crépes; two-tone tower salad and ported raspberry pie.
These two Libby’s pumpkin cheesecakes are rich with cheese and pumpkin and brown sugar, flavored with maple, topped with sour cream and cinnamon – truly delicious desserts.
Whether they’re right out of the box or in your favorite recipe, here is is an easy way to tempt the vanilla wafer lovers in your family: Make a nilla wafer cranberry cheesecake!
Here’s a vintage Johnny Appleseed Pie recipe from the Log Cabin kitchens for an apple pie that Johnny Appleseed himself would have been proud of, with extra flavor from maple syrup.
Here are three different recipes for vintage pumpkin meringue pies – one with a homemade pie and meringue topping, a second with a ginger-infused meringue, and the last using a pre-made pumpkin pie with a nutty meringue on top.
Make a double batch of these chicken meatballs with cranberry glaze – serve what you need, and freeze the rest for a spur-of-the-moment party.
Here are 12 amazing classic apple pie recipes, collected from newspapers published across the US throughout the ’60s!
Here’s a recipe that will turn pumpkin into a pie faster than Cinderella’s fairy godmother turned the fall fruit into a coach: Pumpkin Dream Pie – and all without any cooking or baking.
These delicious classic pumpkin cookie bars are sort of like a denser pumpkin bread, and pair perfectly with a tasty orange-y cream cheese frosting. Get the retro recipe from the 80s here!
Iced Nesselrode Pudding, a chestnut-based chilled sweet, was considered to be very expensive, very fancy, very tasty — and was, consequently, very popular during the Victorian era.
Go a little retro this year! Make delicious holiday butter cookies and lots of different pressed Christmas cookie designs – including spritz – from these easy vintage recipes.
This retro recipe for a classic walnut pie is a lot like America’s beloved pecan pie, but it gets its delicious crunch from walnuts instead. Try it!
What was Thanksgiving dinner like in the Colonial days? Find out how to make roast turkey with pumpkin sauce, Georgia potatoes, succotash, election cake and other classic dishes
Make an easy layer pumpkin pie! 2 vintage recipes that double (or triple!) the holiday deliciousness
Here are two great no-bake pumpkin pie recipes – a double layer pumpkin pie that uses instant pudding, while the second recipe has a base with plain gelatin.
Here are 20 classic mincemeat recipes (used to make the holiday favorite, mince pie) – as remembered through the decades by chefs, cookbook authors, in newspapers and family cookbooks.
These two retro pumpkin coffee cake recipes will make for a delicious breakfast or brunch — and they will even fill your home with that heavenly pumpkin spice aroma.
Thanksgiving, now held each year on the fourth Thursday in November, has long been a controversial holiday, Here, look back at Thanksgiving history as it played out over more than three centuries.
What kind of Thanksgiving food did people enjoy years ago? Here’s a look back at some restaurant menus from holidays past – some of which our modern-day feasts seem simple in comparison.
If you’ve never thought of putting luscious, ruby-red cranberries into a pie, hurry and find out how royally delicious this Ann Pillsbury creation really is!
If you love your yam bakes, we have 7 different ways to enjoy this holiday casserole! Try these classic yam bake recipes that feature peaches, oranges, apples, pineapple, nuts & more.
Traditional Thanksgiving dinner food served at the original First Thanksgiving feast in 1621 provides a tasty menu for holiday tables today. Get some great recipes here!
Pumpkin is so versatile that it is a natural for our rich heritage of regional cooking. The varieties of pumpkin pie are seemingly endless. The following recipes are a sampling of some of these American favorites.
Those who entertain often or very little face the same dilemma: What to serve as appetizers that are different? Here are some suggestions mushroom appetizer recipes to vary the packaged onion dip-and-potato chip routine!
If your family enjoys a fluffy refrigerator-type pie, this Thanksgiving, you should try these two no-bake pumpkin pie recipes from the 1950s!
Get retro recipes for three delicious pies – each with a twist and starring some of America’s favorite flavors: apple, pumpkin and lemon.
All of these sweet potato pie recipes come from the early part of the 20th century — from 1915 until 1922 — and should give you some ideas for ways to spice up a sweet potato pie of your own!
Delicious vintage holiday desserts are as easy as pie! Get recipes for old-fashioned apple crunch cake, pumpkin cream pie delight & luscious pecan pie.
That amazing turkey dinner is going to need carving, so why not learn how to do it right? Here are some easy tips for how to carve turkey that you can keep in mind this Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday!
Take a look at a few of the many ways the recipe for a Thanksgiving staple – the old-fashioned green bean casserole – has been made over the years.
This Thanksgiving, we invite you to revisit pumpkin pie of the 1950s with three glamorous vintage recipes — from traditional to unique — that have been passed down through the generations.
This Thanksgiving, when they come home for turkey dinner, give your dinner some bounce – a retro Cranberry Wobbler gelatin mold for a holiday side dish!
Thanksgiving presupposes thankfulness. One cannot give thanks unless he feels thankful, and this feeling is a cultivated habit.
In addition to traditional pecan pie recipes, we have vintage variations with delicious extras like caramel, chocolate, coconut, butterscotch, coffee and bourbon.
Get three retro pumpkin dessert recipes from the ’70s — including an easy no-bake pumpkin pie and delicious pumpkin muffins!
What’s new about these old-fashioned no-bake Thanksgiving pie recipes? They make a light and creamy and fluffy pumpkin pies, because they’re made with delicious non-dairy Cool Whip.
Camel cigarettes at Thanksgiving? You enjoy food more — have a feeling of ease after eating when you smoke Camels between courses and after meals.
This year, treat everyone to a pumpkin chiffon pie with a light and airy filling that’s simple to make. It’s pumpkin perfection: fluffy filling, crunchy crust, a crown of whipped cream.
These pinecone cheese ball recipes are the ultimate decorative old-school appetizer spread! Find out how to make them here.
This prize-winning recipe uses pumpkin combined with marshmallows to create a heavenly pie that makes for a deliciously light and fluffy Thanksgiving dessert!
This recipe Libby’s for a pumpkin cream velvet mousse has an airy, rum-flavored pumpkin-cream cheese mixture with orange juice and spices, topped with a lattice of whipped cream and crystallized ginger.
Who’d dream a salad so unusual and impressive could be so easy to make! Serve cranberry candles as your salad once… and you’ll be asked to serve it again and again.
The Thanksgiving classic gets a kick from apple goodness in these two delicious classic apple butter pumpkin pie recipes from the ’70s.
This delicious twist on a classic cheesecake-style no-bake pumpkin cream pie starts with the smooth texture of powdered sugar, then adds cream cheese, pumpkin and all the rest.
Looking for some deliciously sweet fall snacks? Try these two classic recipes: some amazing pumpkin spice cookies with lemon icing, and the traditional seasonal favorite, Libby’s pumpkin nut bread!
Team the unique cranberry flavor with that of the seasonal favorite, the sweet potato. Here are three tasty recipes featuring sweet potatoes & cranberries!
Holiday pumpkin pie… homemade in a minute with Knox and your blender. Quick as a mix to fix — but there’s nothing artificial about it.
Here’s a clever way to use Thanksgiving leftovers! Add your turkey to this one pan turkey ‘n’ stuffing casserole – it’s an easy after-holiday lunch or dinner.
Here’s a great new way to make the good old green-bean-bake – in the microwave! Green beans, soup and more help update a classic Thanksgiving recipe.
Here’s a little tasty twist on the classic Thanksgiving dessert: Pumpkin Dutch Apple pie, featuring several of the season’s best flavors!
Give Uncle Ed a reason to stay awake after his Thanksgiving turkey dinner Caramel apple cheesecake >> You might also like: Libby’s famous pumpkin pie recipe
Give new life to your Thanksgiving leftovers with these two old-fashioned turkey recipes from the 1940s!
A wonderful twist on Thanksgiving tradition — a light, appetizing treat from the forties – pumpkin cake!
This nutty classic dessert recipe – a retro golden harvest pumpkin pie – is made the way grandma used to make it back in the fifties. Take a look!
The combination of fresh cranberries and pumpkin is a rare treat, especially when contained in a delicious holiday pie. Find out how to make two different old-fashioned cranberry-pumpkin pie recipes here.
Your guests will hope for more as they taste the super-goodness that honey brings to this glorified pumpkin pie — the pumpkin chiffon honey pie.
This Pride O’Pumpkin cake is a real holiday cake… fragrant with spices… crunchy with tender-sweet nuts. Get the retro recipe from the ’50s here!
Check out these zesty retro ’60s holiday side dish recipes for a tasty turkey fruit salad, cranberry fruit molds and salad bowl dressing supreme, all from 1963.
An old-fashioned poem detailing how to make a pumpkin pie! ‘Enough cold water to form a paste. Colder the water, better the taste. – Half teaspoonful cinnamon, big cup of milk. Stir until as smooth as silk.’
Any way you carve it, the big bird will taste even better with these sensational Thanksgiving side dishes
Decorating the Thanksgiving table? Never before In the history of Thanksgiving dinners have the color schemes for trimming up the dining-room been so delightful as this year.
