NNP

AMERICAN TURKEY - SOCIETY OF MEDALISTS ISSUE #10, 1934.
73.3mm. Bronze. Albert Laessle, Sc. (Medallic Art Co.). Uncirculated. Obverse: American turkey. Reverse: Abundance, corn stalk. 1,021 struck. Original pamphlet.

The artist’s intent was to symbolize the abundance of America. “On the obverse is the turkey. Native to this country, it is especially connected in our minds with Thanksgiving, for it was a gift of the new world to the early settlers. ... I have depicted the turkey with ruffled feathers, in pride and the vigor of its youth symbolizing the growth of Young America.

The corn on the reverse side of this medal, is also indigenous to America, having been presented by the Indians to the first settlers. There is something especially beautiful about the growing corn, with its long leaves rustling in the wind. The flower appears, and finally the ear,--the apotheosis of the corn. The ear of corn which I have depicted in triumphant,--rhythmic with the pulse of life. It symbolizes true wealth. It is the culmination of the harvest, when man, flushed by his labors in the summer sun, gathers to his granaries the fruits of the earth. The turkey and the corn thus seem to me most fully to symbolize the abundance which the name of American signifies among the nations.” $79.50