Thanksgiving Day--Ways and Means/Arrival at the Old Home/The Dinner/The Dance, from Harper's Weekly, November 27, 1858
1858
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Ray Austrian Collection, gift of Beatrice L. Austrian, Caryl A. Austrian and James A. Austrian
Accession Number
1996.63.105
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *Thanksgiving Day--Ways and Means/Arrival at the Old Home/The Dinner/The Dance*, published in *Harper's Weekly* on November 27, 1858, offers a vivid snapshot of mid-19th-century American holiday traditions. As one of Homer's earliest published works, this wood engraving print captures the joy of Thanksgiving through a sequence of bustling scenes: preparations (ways and means), a family's arrival by horse-drawn carriage at the ancestral home, a hearty dinner likely centered on roast turkey, and an exuberant evening dance. Rendered in the detailed black-and-white style typical of illustrated newspapers, it reflects Homer's emerging talent for realistic genre scenes of everyday life. Created during a time when Thanksgiving was gaining traction as a national observance—formalized by President Lincoln just five years later—this artwork highlights cultural rituals of rural America, emphasizing family reunions, feasting, and communal merriment. The figure groups, lively eating and drinking, and festive dancing evoke nostalgia for simpler times on the cusp of the Civil War era. Homer's precise line work and dynamic compositions made such prints hugely popular, bridging fine art and mass media. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Ray Austrian Collection, this piece exemplifies the graphic arts' role in shaping American visual culture, inviting viewers to relish the warmth of holiday gatherings that still resonate today.
About the Artist
Winslow Homer · 1836–1910
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of America's greatest painters and a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Largely self-taught, Homer began his career as a commercial illustrator and Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before becoming renowned for his powerful marine subjects and landscape paintings. His mastery of both oil and watercolor, combined with his uncompromising reali...