Millicent Rogers and Her Memorable Thanksgiving in Taos

Millicent Rogers, heiress to a Standard Oil fortune, hosted a memorable Thanksgiving in Taos, New Mexico in 1949 after her disastrous love affair with actor Clark Gable came to an end.
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I've been traveling around the country in recent weeks talking about my book "Searching for Beauty -- The Life of Millicent Rogers" and the subject of Thanksgiving has invariably come up with women friends. Who's coming and who's not, and, in several cases, will the new kitchen cabinets or other remodeling projects be finished in time? There is an element of stress as the holidays approach.

This time of year brings to mind for me the truly memorable Thanksgiving dinner that Millicent Rogers, heiress to a Standard Oil fortune, hosted in Taos, New Mexico in 1949. She had recently moved there after a disastrous love affair with Clark Gable in Hollywood, and in her new surroundings her life and outlook changed radically.

The run-down, four-room adobe house she bought when she arrived had been remodeled and Millicent decided to host Thanksgiving in her newly completed house. She had employed members of the local Pueblo community for the work, and she invited many of them to come to her home for Thanksgiving dinner. Her younger friend, Mirandi Levy, a young jeweler from Santa Fe down the road, was also invited. Mirandi told the story recounted in my book.

Mirandi explained she had already accepted an invitation from her friend Ludovic Kennedy, who was going out with the Hollywood actress and dancer Moira Shearer, newly of "The Red Shoes" movie fame. Shearer was doing a show up in Denver. So Millicent expanded her invitation and said they should all come to Taos for Thanksgiving. By this time, Millicent's house was staffed with her household employees from Claremont Manor. In addition to her cook, she had two other women to help with the kitchen and the house.

Mirandi and Shearer, 24, were wide-eyed as they watched the black staff in white gloves and livery serve Thanksgiving dinner at a long table set with silver and fine plates to the Pueblo guests, who chewed on their drumsticks rather than use cutlery, ate without napkins and tossed their bones onto Millicent's beautiful rugs when they were finished. "It didn't bother Millicent. She was simply a marvelous hostess, so casual and unflustered. She took everything as it came and nothing surprised her. To her anything was just another incident in her life," said Mirandi.

Rogers's unflappable manner could be a model to modern harried hostesses this Thanksgiving, even if there are fewer people helping in the kitchen.

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