Thrifty Acres - Graduation Dinner

Hello! Our daughter's open house is this weekend, and a taco bar, tortilla chips with dip and salsa, a few side dishes, cake and a few other goodies are on the menu. 

But I told my daughter last night that it's too bad I hadn't consulted my 1962 Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar in advance, for right there on page 80 is a Graduation Dinner menu. 

Are you ready for it? Keep in mind that this same publication's "Supper Before the Basketball Game" read more like the menu for a ladies' luncheon. (you can see what I mean here.)

So, what does the Graduation Dinner menu have on it?

Well, look at that - other than that Fruit Platter Pie subbing for pumpkin pie, it's a dead ringer for a Thanksgiving dinner!

My question - why? I get that a turkey dinner with all the trimmings can seem special, but as June can be a warm if not hot month in most of the US, why would anyone want to heat up the kitchen to roast a turkey? And wouldn't all this food be too heavy on a hot day as well? 

I have no idea why the folks at Betty Crocker's decided the above dinner was just the thing to celebrate a graduation - I'm going to stick with my taco bar theme! 

But at least Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar got the accompanying illustration right:

(the orange sauce is served over the Fruit Platter Pie).