Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 19, 1993                   TAG: 9311200257
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THANKS FOR THE TRADITION

Thanksgiving before the Great Depression meant sales at the Piggly Wiggly, where Extra Fancy Emperor grapes were 15 cents a pound, and at the A&P, where two cans of pumpkin cost a quarter.

Downtown, you could find dresses to dance in for only $15 and a brand new player piano for only $5 down.

Today, we speed to the super Kroger from work in rush-hour traffic, clenching our fists at people who zip in front of us. We hurl the ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner in the buggy and check them out with a credit card, forgetting to hand over our coupons. Pumpkin's not as cheap as it used to be, you know.

As for dancing, well, the Elephant Walk and a disc jockey's tunes just don't seem the same. And the last player piano we wanted to buy was a toy in the Sears Wishbook.

Still, there's something about Thanksgiving these days that seems vintage to us.

Maybe it's how the whirling holiday season slows to a crawl when all the shops close for the day. And we forget about that driver who cut us off yesterday.

Or perhaps there's a bit of old-fashioned charm in getting the day off from work and setting the table with Grandmother's silver and the good china - for the first time this year.

To us, Thanksgiving seems so timeless because year after year, when we find ourselves gearing up for the day, we slow down just enough to remember to be thankful for something.