LETTERS TO THE EDITORS
Talking Turkey
To the Editors:
For years I have been waiting with bated breath to see another
rendering of the United States seal portraying a turkey instead of a
bald eagle. Finally one actually did appear, with Catherine Raven's
article on the national symbol, "Beauty Is Only Feather
Deep" (Macroscope, September-October). About three
decades ago, after a class lecture in which I mentioned Benjamin
Franklin and his advocating the turkey as the national bird, one of
my students made a sketch portraying Franklin's suggestion. Such a
seal would certainly have put a quietus (perhaps even a
Constitutional amendment) on Thanksgiving's traditional entrée.
Coincidentally, thinking about official symbols, originally Alaska's
state bird was the raven, later changed to the willow ptarmigan.
Richard G. Beidleman
Pacific Grove, CA