When I was a child, in the forties and early fifties, we celebrated New Year's Day with a meal and day similar to Christmas with out the gifts. The menu was the same.
We alternated celebrations with Mom's cousin. The big meal took place at noon. The cousins would arrive by horses and sleigh. This was not a fun sleigh ride but was the standard and only transportation at that time.
We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, veggies, cranberry and lots of pickles. There were usually twelve of us and we were all boys with big appetites so there wasn't much left. Delicious pie capped off the meal.
Now I remember the delicious turkey. It wasn't the super dooper butter ball turkey which is filled full of sugar and other junk to make it taste better. We just had a plain old turkey that lived on the yard all summer where it ate grasshoppers, bugs, blades of grass, weeds and seeds. They were also fed some grain. They were the turkeys that really had flavor. To eat the turkeys sold today almost makes you cry.
Now the afternoon was spent visiting and playing games. Sometimes the monopoly game went on all afternoon.
Around 4:00 PM the Dads would go out and do the chores. The cows still had to be milked and fed.
The evening meal was made from left overs of the noon meal. Much Christmas baking was still available and on the evening menu. After supper, more visiting and games. Sometimes there was singing. To wind all this up, there was cold turkey and ham at midnight with tea and more great Christmas baking.
So you see it was a full day of celebration.
So New Year's Day , when I was a little kid, was an all day celebration.
