Writer Wednesday: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Hello! It’s time for Writer Wednesday, when I discuss another author and his or her work. Today’s post is about Louisa May Alcott (of Little Women fame) and her short story, “An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving”. This is a short work, perfect to read in between the festivities of the season. Just like the Thanksgiving dinner that the characters try their hand at creating, there are layers of richness included. Humor, goodwill, and a mix-up or two lend themselves to this holiday caper.

What particularly interests me is the title. An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. What exactly does that mean? Alcott of course wrote in the past from us and so it is an old-fashioned Thanksgiving. But, even when she wrote it, she did not call it a Contemporary Thanksigving, which to us has now become old-fashioned. Part of the story even is a tale within a tale about the 1600s and the pilgrims. The layers of history are woven together. That seems to be at the root of Thanksgiving, remembering past times while creating new memories. Perhaps, it is finding something familiar in the past that appeals and perhaps, this is in part, some of the appeal in historical fiction.