Menus in Fort Vancouver archives tell tales of Thanksgiving meals pastSubscriber Exclusive

Editor’s note: This was originally published on Nov. 26, 2015.

Ninety-seven years ago, as World War I waged in Europe, soldiers at Vancouver Barracks answered a much more festive call. They reported for dinner.

It was roast turkey.

The traditional Thanksgiving Day centerpiece was supplemented with enough holiday fare to fill a menu page.

In December 1941, less than three weeks after the United States was thrown into World War II, a Grays Harbor family had some company from Vancouver for dinner: Company E, 18th Engineers.

Although they were preparing for a possible Japanese attack, the soldiers from Vancouver Barracks enjoyed a down-home Christmas dinner on the Washington Coast. According to the menu, it started with turkey soup and finished with wine, cigarettes and cigars.

Those menus now are historical artifacts; the museum collection at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site has menus representing decades of holiday feasts at Vancouver Barracks.

For the soldiers, the traditional holiday items provided a taste of home when they were far from their families.

But there is a lot more to these multipage booklets — some stapled together, some bound with colorful ribbons — than lists of familiar food. It’s the other pages that make these keepsakes worth keeping.

The covers provide a gallery of Americana art that reflects several themes, including patriotism, military valor and holiday traditions.

Each booklet contains a unit roster, which testifies to the service of individual soldiers. Over the years, those rosters illustrate the transition of the U.S. Army.

Family heritage

The 1932 Thanksgiving menu for the 7th Infantry’s Service Company lists soldiers by their jobs. And back then, some of those soldiers were still working with mules.

Many of the menus in the collection were donated by families of people who had worked or served at Vancouver Barracks, said Meagan Huff, assistant curator.

“People want their family heritage to be preserved, and one of the primary things the National Park Service does is preserve heritage.”

Every once in a while, there is a bonus. The family that donated the 1917 and 1918 menus added a vintage photo of Bernard Patten. His name is on the rosters that accompany both menus. In 1917, the 21-year-old Patten was a private in the Army Signal Corps’ 404th Aero Squadron (Construction). In 1918, following a unit redesignation and a promotion, he was listed as a corporal in the 18th Spruce Squadron, among the soldiers who operated the world’s biggest spruce cut-up mill.

One simple menu has a cover of red construction paper, decorated with images in gold-colored and black ink. But it comes with a great story, reflecting life in Washington just 18 days after Pearl Harbor.

Hugh Thomas heard the story from his late wife Janet, who grew up near Ocosta, a small town near Grays Harbor. As he sorted through her possessions, Thomas called The Columbian, looking for a new home for Company E’s 75-year-old Christmas menu.

Holiday hospitality

About 50 soldiers had dinner at the house where his wife — then Janet Foster — grew up. Right after Pearl Harbor, Company E was sent to work on an old coastal artillery battery, just in case Japanese forces were to attack the Washington Coast. Company E camped in an area next to his in-laws’ house, Thomas said.

Harvey Foster, who owned a logging company, let the Army officers write their reports in his basement office. Soldiers took showers in their bathroom. And the Fosters’ home is where they had Christmas dinner, Thomas said.

They paid a price for their hospitality. With all those men using the bathroom and shower, “it overtaxed the septic tank,” Thomas said. “Being engineers, they helped correct it.”

The shore-battery project was called off right after Christmas, Thomas said, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

A dozen names on the roster have check-marks penciled next to them, Thomas noted. Elsie Foster, his mother-in-law, stayed in touch with those soldiers during the war.