San Francisco Celebrating Thanksgiving in the 1940s to the 1960s

Here are some our favorite photographs from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection revolving around the themes of turkeys and Thanksgiving. We narrowed in on the 1940s to the 1960s. The source of the photographs is from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue.

First stop for your 1950s Thanksgiving would be procuring your turkey at the Crystal Palace Market at the corner of Market and 8th Streets. There were four poultry shops in the Crystal Palace Market.

Crystal Palace Market, 1953

Although this man found a turkey in the San Francisco Bay!

Jesse M. Nichols standing with a turkey at Fort Point, Presidio, 1945

You would need to start the cooking process whether feeding your family or friends or the Army.

Cooks assigned to Fort McDowell, 1945

Newscopy from back of photograph: "And we do mean home -  say these cooks assigned to the Fort McDowell mess, where Pacific war veterans arriving at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation later in the month will eat their Thanksgiving dinner. The men in white, just a few of the 136 who operate the mess, carried turkeys, fresh vegetables, oranges, milk and butter (photographed in that order) to the Welcome Home sign that greets veterans at the ferry landing, and posed with them to let prospective guests know the Port has plenty of the victuals they've been longing for overseas."

Everyone has their special way of making the turkey delicious - with sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen. 

Governor Edmund (Pat) Brown, Mrs. Brown and grandchildren at Thanksgiving, 1963

You may have been cooking for your family or the masses.

Father Alfred Boeddeker basting Thanksgiving turkey in St. Anthony's Dining Room, 1958*

Thanksgiving traditions include setting the table properly.

Camp Fire Girls setting the table, 1949

Newscopy from back of photograph: "Thanksgiving means much more to Camp Fire Girls than a day for stuffing themselves with turkey and staying away from school. It's an opportunity to serve others, and that includes helping at home with dinner preparations. This week a group of girls had a preliminary workout in table setting and flower arrangement when they gave a dinner for their dads at the clubhouse on Arguello Boulevard. In the group were, left to right: Virginia Perryman, Carol Thompson, Katherine Hoass, Helen Cannon and Ann Graber."

Plus, learning how to carve the turkey.

Camp Fire Girls learning to carve a turkey, 1950

And you can always dress yourself up as a turkey!

*San Francisco fact: if you've ever wondered about Boeddeker Park in the Tenderloin - this is who the Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park was named after in 1985 when it opened.