The Presidential Turkey Arrives by Air
Nov 19, 2012
By Allan Janus
Suitably clad in a custom-made flying suit and sporting a pair of goggles, President Warren G. Harding's 1921 Thanksgiving turkey, the gift of the Harding Girls' Club of Chicago, arrives at the College Park (Maryland) airport on a DH-4 mailplane. Note the rifle at the left of the photograph - why an armed escort was deemed necessary is not explained; but since the custom of granting a pardon to presidential turkeys only began in 1989, maybe the authorities thought he might try to make a break for it. Oh, and President Harding's 1922 turkey arrived by battleship...
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