Thanksgiving Masking and Ragamuffin Parades
If you walked through New York City in the late 1800s or early 1900s on Thanksgiving morning, you might have thought you accidentally time traveled to October. Children dressed in ragged clothes or old suits, wore homemade masks, and went door to door asking for coins or treats. Newspapers described this as
Thanksgiving masking or ragamuffin parades, and it was considered an established custom by the end of the 19th century.
These ragamuffin kids were sometimes called “hoodlums” in editorials, but they were really following a tradition that mixed older European mumming customs with American street culture. The basic idea was simple. Dress up as a comically poor or strange character, roam the streets with friends, and see how much candy or spare change you could collect before dinner.
Adults got in on it too. Reports mention masked marchers, noisemakers, and small parades where people leaned into the chaos. Over time, though, city officials and newspaper columnists started complaining that it was noisy, messy, and occasionally mean spirited. As organized Halloween trick or treating spread in the mid 20th century, Thanksgiving masking faded away or got pushed into a few local “ragamuffin” events that survive mostly as nostalgic throwbacks.
Turkey Raffles and Turkey Shoots
Another piece of Thanksgiving history involves gambling for your main course. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, bars and clubs often held turkey raffles. Patrons would pay for a chance to roll dice or draw numbers, with the winner taking home a turkey for the holiday table. It was equal parts fundraiser, entertainment, and excuse to spend an evening drinking with friends.
These raffles eventually ran into trouble as states cracked down on gambling. Once raffles started to be treated like illegal games of chance instead of harmless fun, they either moved into more regulated charity events or disappeared entirely.
Closely related were turkey shoots. In their older form, these were not metaphorical. Accounts from the early 1900s describe live turkeys tied in pens while shooters tried to hit a mark from a set distance. Today, most modern “turkey shoots” have quietly switched to paper targets or other stand ins, but the name stuck around as part of Thanksgiving season in rural areas and gun clubs.
Frozen Turkey Bowling
Move forward to the late 20th century and you run into what might be the most cartoonish Thanksgiving tradition of all. In turkey bowling, a frozen turkey stands in for the bowling ball, and bottles or cans serve as pins. Participants slide or roll the bird down a slick surface such as a grocery store aisle, an oiled sheet of plastic, or even ice.
The story usually traces back to employees in a California supermarket who started rolling frozen turkeys as a joke during slow overnight shifts. From there, the idea spread to charity events, college campuses, and local news features looking for colorful holiday footage. Versions of turkey bowling still pop up as fundraisers or novelty contests, although concerns about food waste and animal respect have made it more controversial in recent years.
From Rough Edges to Cozy Traditions
When you line up Thanksgiving masking, turkey raffles, turkey shoots, and frozen turkey bowling, a pattern starts to emerge. Early Thanksgiving celebrations were not always gentle or sentimental. They could be noisy, rough around the edges, and built around activities that look pretty strange by modern standards.
Over time, a combination of factors smoothed those edges out. Cities tried to limit street mischief. States tightened gambling rules. Attitudes about animal welfare changed. At the same time, magazines, advertisers, and later television pushed a more unified image of Thanksgiving as a calm, family centered, indoors holiday with a predictable script.
I still like the modern version. At the same time, it is worth remembering that for much of American history, Thanksgiving was not just a day for a carefully plated meal. It was also a playground for some very strange traditions that tell us a lot about how people really celebrated once the official proclamations were out of the way.