When Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) pitched his idea for a national day of Thanksgiving to his best friend Abraham Lincoln – who was the President of the United States at the time – Lincoln was not keen on the idea.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” said Lincoln, “but her family is a lot like fudge – mostly sweet, but with a lot of nuts. I just don’t think I could stomach a feast with those people – even if just once a year.”
Dickinson didn’t give up, though, and in 1863 he got Lincoln to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.
Dickinson helped promote the new holiday by selling Thanksgiving day postcards with his poetry, and the public couldn’t get enough! They loved the postcards, they loved the poetry, and they grew to love the holiday – even if it meant having to break bread with objectionable and/ annoying family members – even if just once a year.
Below are some the top postcards sold by Dickinson in the first years to promote Thanksgiving.
The postcard above includes the following lines by Emmett Lee Dickinson: Most she touched me by her muteness – Most she won me by the way She presented her small figure – Pie itself - for Turkey Day - | Third cousin Emily borrowed the lines in a poem she wrote that begins as follows: Most she touched me by her muteness – Most she won me by the way She presented her small figure – Plea itself - for Charity – |
The postcard below includes the following lines by Emmett Lee Dickinson: Somebody run to get the plate And see if Dinner’s coming! Wait! I see the treat upon the tray! Death won’t hurt – now Dinner’s here! | Third cousin Emily used these lines in her poem "Dying! Dying in the night!": Somebody run to the great gate And see if Dollie's coming! Wait! I hear her feet upon the stair! Death wont hurt -- now Dollie's here! |
A popular postcard by Emmett Lee Dickinson included the following lines: My Heart upon a dinner Plate Their Palate to delight Cranberries and a Yam or three Might please their Appetite | Emily Dickinson penned this poem based on her third cousin's poem: My Heart opon a little Plate Her Palate to delight A Berry or a Bun, would be, Might it an Apricot! |