Hollywood’s 1954 Thanksgiving Prayer: ‘We Thank Thee for the Privilege of Living as Free Men’
This article was first published on Nov. 19, 2011.
(CNSNews.com) – On Thanksgiving week in 1954, NBC aired a holiday-themed “Father Knows Best” that ended with the family praying before their meal, including thanking God “for the privilege of living as free men in a country which respects our freedom and our personal rights to worship and think and speak as we choose.”
The Nov. 21, 1954 show featured the Anderson family: Jim and Margaret and their three children, Betty, Bud and Kathy.
In the program, the family decided to forgo a Thanksgiving meal because of scheduling conflicts. But in the end, the parents and children decide that sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal together is the best way to celebrate.
As the family sits around the kitchen table, the father leads the family in prayer:
“Oh Lord, we give thee thanks from the depths of our humble hearts for all the blessings thou has seen fit to bestow upon us. We thank thee for the food,…
