The first American Thanksgiving has myth-like links to a harvest feast held by the Pilgrims in 1621.
In 1777, the Pilgrims and settlers had become a revolutionary force, and the National Thanksgiving Proclamation was about victory in war.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln's decision to set a November date for a national day had a more general theme of giving thanks for the blessings of American life - while Americans were killing each other in one of history’s bloodiest civil wars.
There are lots of ways to celebrate this national day for America. We like to do it with collectibles. And here are 12 of the best. Happy Thanksgiving!
12 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles poster
Anyone who has seen and loved this movie will smile when they see this image. Image courtesy Prop Store.
One of the most popular Thanksgiving films of all time is this 1987 classic with Steve Martin and the much-missed John Candy.
No spoilers here as we heartily recommend you watch this heartwarming but laugh-out-loud funny family comedy if you haven’t yet seen it.
And, if you’d like a great Hollywood collectible - the image captures the movie so well - then invest around $500 in this original Planes, Trains and Automobiles poster.
11 - 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' production cels
Anything original from the Charlie Brown universe can be valuable. Did anyone capture American life better? Image courtesy Heritage Auctions.
This 25-minute Peanuts special was a part of many family Thanksgivings from its first broadcast in 1973 until, well...it still is.s
In true Charlie Brown style it’s funny, ultimately uplifting, and a tour de force of animation, voice acting, story-telling and music (courtesy of Vince Guaraldi).
Production cels from the show were auctioned in 2021 for $6,600.
10 - Tiffany & Co silver Thanksgiving service
Do you know your cranberry server from your stuffing spoon? All collectors know that the Tiffany name is a guarantee of quality and long-term returns.
A gravy ladle, a cranberry server and a stuffing spoon. The extras that make a Tiffany service a Tiffany Thanksgiving service.
And check out the beautiful turkey decoration on these lovely pieces, sold for $600 in 2022, and I think, almost certain to go up in value.
9 - Thanksgiving Day by N C Wyeth
Wyeth captured the simple life of the 1620s for the stores of Roaring '20s Chicago. His popular, commercial work is valuable now. Image courtesy Sotheby's.
Wyeth was a popular and commercial artist who made excellent images of Thanksgiving in a long career that included many stand-out book illustrations.
This was a poster, designed to go in shop windows in 1921.
The text shown with it, makes the point: "Thanksgiving Day three hundred years ago was celebrated by the valiant pilgrims amid hardships and suffering. Today we live in a land of comfort, of independence, and of opportunity for all. With gratitude we acknowledge the rich rewards of industry, frugality and thrift."
Wyeth is highly collectible now. Perhaps his best Thanksgiving work is a huge mural that can't properly be illustrated here.
This painting was sold by Sotheby's earlier this year for just under $100,000.
8 - Grandma Moses Thanksgiving
Grandma Moses' personality added to her status as an unlikely art star. She was on the cover of Time magazine as a late-starting artist. Image courtesy Christie's.
Anna Mary Robertson Moses became an unlikely star of the art scene in the 1950s when her story (a former housekeeper, she took up painting in her 70s) and her naive folk style caught America’s imagination.
When she died in 1961, the New York Times wrote: “The simple realism, nostalgic atmosphere and luminous color with which Grandma Moses portrayed simple farm life and rural countryside won her a wide following.”
And great value. In 2006 one of her paintings realised $1.2 million at auction in New York.
This image of Thanksgiving was auctioned for $125,000 (around double its estimate) in 2019.
7 - Lincoln’s Thanksgiving authorisation
This is a wonderful signature, a direct line to the most worshipped American president of them all.
History is often fragmented, and this partly printed document was the last chance collectors had to get their hands on first-hand records of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation.
"I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the seal of the United States to a Proclamation, dated this day, and signed by me: and for so doing this shall be his warrant."
And that 1863 proclamation was the first national Thanksgiving in the eyes of most historians.
A fine signature by the tragically murdered (and highly collectible) president give extra appeal to this document that sold for over $33,000 in 2006.
6 - Ronald Reagan’s turkey platter
Dinner with the Reagans in California meant going heavy on the turkeys.
The Hollywood president lived a life that looked very true to the realisation of the American dream.
No surprise then that the Reagan family made a big deal of Thanksgiving.
They dined in style from this Italian ceramic platter that was sold for over $8,000 as part of the family’s collection in 2016. It made more than eight times its top estimate.
5 - The First National Thanksgiving proclamation
"GOD Save THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" is an emphatic sign-off to this remnant of the first official Thanksgiving announcement. Image courtesy Christie's.
A copy of Washington’s handwritten Thanksgiving proclamation was for sale in the 2010s, listed at over $8 million.
However, tis broadside, that was sold in 2020 for just under $500,000, is probably how most people in the young United States heard the news.
“It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive power of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth day of December next, for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise.”
The reason for the celebration?
A victory at the Battle of Saratoga that was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
From these roots, a national holiday grew.
4 - The Twins Gossiping, Thanksgiving by Nan Godin
Forget the flags and the guns, Thanksgiving is about ordinary families and about love. Image courtesy of Christie's.
Far from its military, ceremonial and quasi-religious/patriotic roots, Thanksgiving is for most Americans a big family party.
Nan Godin’s photograph (one of an edition of 15 sold for $2,500 in 2021) was part of a project recording her life.
It was taken in 1997 and millions of American families will recognise it as a representation of the sort of Thanksgivings they remember.
3 - Aaron Rodgers' Thanksgiving game jersey
Not everyone gets to sit around eating turkey, and Aaron Rodgers had a great day at work on Thanksgiving 2011.
Some people have to work on Thanksgiving.
Putting everything in to it, but very well paid, are the footballers who play in one of the biggest game days in the NFL.
In 2011 Aaron Rodgers wore his number 12 shirt in a Thanksgiving game for the Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions.
Rodgers was playing as reigning Superbowl champion.
He threw a couple of touchdown passes in this jersey and picked up an appropriate Galloping Gobbler award as MVP, while a nation cheered from their couches after a huge meal.
All that was enough to give the jersey a $21,510 price tag at auction in 2012.
2 - Thanksgiving magazine cover 1910, Joseph Leyendecker
Leyendecker drew more than 300 covers for the Saturday Evening Post. Image Heritage Auctions.
Of the artists who are said to have captured something specifically about the American idea - as it was believed at the time - Joseph Christian Leyendecker remains one of the most popular.
He was born in Germany, but his best work was hugely popular with Americans via magazine and newspaper publications, especially on the front of the Saturday Evening Post from 1899.
You will recognise some of his pictures (he pretty-much created the modern image of Santa Claus), including perhaps this iconic Thanksgiving image that sold for over $52,000 in 2018.
1 - Norman Rockwell Home for Thanksgiving, 1945
Rockwell had America's heart. Image Heritage Auctions.
This is $4.3 million-worth of American dream on a magazine cover.
Norman Rockwell is hugely collectible and to many is the iconic 20th-century American artist.
This is another Saturday Evening Post cover.
The magazine was published from 1821 to 1969, playing a big role in how Americans saw themselves and their country in that period.
In 1945, with the world’s greatest conflict coming to an end, Rockwell captured a moment perfectly, in a picture that says what it needs to better than any written description of it can.
Giving thanks with collectibles
We hope you enjoy your family this Thanksgiving, wherever you are and however you celebrate.
If you'd like more articles like this, sign up for our newsletter now.
