Turkey Day (1887)

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   Andrew Smith (editor of the forthcoming OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK) asked me about "Turkey Day" for "Thanksgiving."  He'd found it in postcards from around 1900-1910.
   DARE has--what?
   From the NEW YORK TIMES, 20 November 1887, pg. 16:

   The near advent of Thanksgiving has had the usual effect that the approach of a holiday generally produces on the social world; that is, it has cast somewhat of a damper on gayety.  The past week has had little of incident, and the present, from the outlook this morning, offers still less.  With "Turkey Day," as New-England children call it, over and gone, there will be a revival of gayety for the few weeks before Christmas, when the same story will be repeated.