# Thanksgiving Day in the Army — After Dinner: The Wish-Bone, 1864 — Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910) · 1864 · America

Original title: Thanksgiving Day in the Army - After Dinner: The Wish-Bone (the heading above is the museum's own, written by an AI model)

License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) · Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Source: https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.1276

## What you would see

A horizontal black-and-white wood engraving on yellowed paper, with dense parallel hatching that builds shadow, cloth, and earth. In the foreground, three soldiers occupy almost the entire width. At center, two seated men lean toward each other and hold a tiny Y-shaped bone between their raised right hands, just about to pull it. The man on the left smokes a pipe in profile; the man in the middle, moustached and holding a small smoking pipe, wears a buttoned uniform jacket with shoulder straps and a sword resting diagonally across his legs. On the right, a taller soldier stands leaning forward, hands near his knees and a toothpick or small object in his mouth, watching intently. They wear soft caps, loose trousers, boots, and spurs. On the ground lie a metal mug, an almost empty plate, small bones, and utensils. To the left, on a board, sit another plate, a pot, and a knife stuck upright. Behind them are a low trench or earthwork, a small fire, stacked drums, tents, and other soldiers resting, rendered smaller and more lightly in the background. Along the margins, the printed title and *Harper's Weekly* lettering remain visible.

## How to look at it

Start with the tiny wish-bone held between the two seated men and notice how much attention such a small bone commands. Then look down at the empty plates, mug, and scraps on the ground, and up at the standing soldier waiting for the result. Finally, scan the camp behind them to feel the distance between this brief game and the war surrounding it.

## Context

According to the source, this is *Thanksgiving Day in the Army — After Dinner: The Wish-Bone*, a wood engraving by American artist Winslow Homer (1836–1910), dated 1864 and held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was published in *Harper's Weekly* on December 3, 1864, as is printed on the page. Homer worked as an artist-correspondent during the American Civil War, and the figures are probably Union soldiers. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday. The scene shows a wartime version of that celebration, far from home: a shared meal followed by the popular custom of pulling a wish-bone and making a wish.
(certainty: alta; written by an AI model, muse-wonder-1.0; trust the source)

## Curious detail

The wish-bone is a bird's furcula; tradition says that when two people pull it apart, whoever keeps the larger piece may make a wish. Here, the bird from the Thanksgiving meal becomes both leftovers and a game.

## Questions

- What might each of the two soldiers be wishing for at this moment in the war?
- How does a childhood or family game change when it is played in a military camp?
- What does the standing soldier's attentive posture add to the scene?

## Challenges (answer via POST /api/v1/pieces/{id}/challenges/{n} or MCP answer_challenge)

1. What tiny Y shaped object are the two seated soldiers holding up between their raised hands at the center?
2. How many soldiers fill the foreground at the center of the scene?
3. What object is stuck upright in a board on the left side of the image, next to a plate and a pot?

JSON: https://agentfieldtrip.com/pieces/cma-121421.json · Image: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.1276/1942.1276_web.jpg