The Menurkey - A Thanksgivukkah Candelabra Created By A 9 Year Old.

above: glazed textured Menurkey shown

Although I won't be adding it to my carefully curated list of modern menorahs, the Menurkey is something us Jews celebrating Hanukkah this year ought to at least know of.


above: smooth plaster Menurkey shown

Since this year's Festival of Lights falls on Turkey Day (an extremely rare occurrence that last time happened in 1861), it was inevitable that someone would create something such as this. The fact that it's the brainchild of a 9 year old makes it even better.



The Menurkey is a combination Menorah/Turkey conceived of, designed and named by 9 year old Asher Weintraub, a fourth grader from New York City, who thought of the idea and the name when he learned of this strange calendar anomaly. He says one of the reasons he thought people might like to have a turkey menorah was because the holidays were similar – because in some way both commemorate being ‘thankful.’


above image of Asher with his Menurkey courtesy of WSJ


How he made it: 
Asher used Tinkercad, a 3D modeling platform, to make the first sketches of the prototype:


Makerbot Studios then stepped in to help out by printing the 3D prototype:


Ceramic artist Connie Smith of the Etsy shop doters adapted Asher's design to create the first prototypes for the Menurkey in plasticene, with two different exterior textures:





The Finished Editions
The Menurkeys are being made in a limited run of textured ceramic glazed Menurkeys and a higher volume edition of smooth plaster Menurkeys. The ceramic editions will be offered in two versions – white or blue )both shown below). The white plaster editions will be smooth (also shown below). Having already sold out of the limited glazed ceramic versions, you can still purchase the white plaster Menurkey.

The White Ceramic Glazed Menurkey:



The Blue Ceramic Glazed Menurkey:


The White Plaster Menurkey:


What began as a way to encourage one of their son’s ideas has grown into a mission – whomever Caroline Baron and Anthony Weintraub (Asher's parents) tell about the Menurkey smiles and asks questions, and it’s a great way to discuss these two holidays. What better way to celebrate this strange but amazing occurrence with your family than with this funny and fascinating conversation starter?


above: Asher Weintraub with his parents and younger brother



BUY IT
Plaster Menurkey (White)
6.5” h X 8.5” w X 5.5” d
$50.00 + Shipping & Handling
buy it here.

They also have an iMenurkey app created by the makers of the iMenorah

images and information courtesy of Menurkey.com

In Honor Of Turkey Day, 18 Works of Art Inspired By The Wishbone.

The most common belief is that the tradition of breaking the wishbone at Thanksgiving began with the ancient Etruscans and Romans who dried chicken wishbones and touched them as they made a wish. Lacking enough bones to go around the Romans fought over them - breaking them in the process. The Romans were said to have later introduced the practice into Great Britain.


stock photo courtesy of Bill Frymire

For more than two centuries, wishes were made on these unbroken clavicles. It was not until later that the expression “lucky break” was applied to the person winning the larger half in a wishbone tug-of-war. The person with the larger end of the bone would have his wish granted. In some places of the world, guinea fowl, geese, and turkey have replaced the hen, most likely for practical reasons.


above: The furcula, commonly called a wishbone, is the forked, flexible bone in a bird's breast

In honor of Thanksgiving, I have culled some interesting pieces of art which feature, or were inspired by, the wishbone. The 18 works I've chosen include sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, typefaces and a video I found to be of interest - the oldest piece dating back to 1864.

The illustration by Winslow Homer below is from the December 3, 1864 edition of Harper's Weekly:

above: Winslow Homer, Civil War Drawing, Thanksgiving-Day In The Army. After Dinner: The Wishbone

Andrew Wyeth's painting Wishbone (exact year unknown):


Norman Rockwell's image of children pulling at the wishbone was on the cover of the 1921 issue of The Country Gentleman, the Saturday Evening Post‘s sister publication:


BROOD is an installation by artist Kate MccGwire in which she arranged hundreds, if not thousands of wishbones, (photos by Jonty Wilde):




Arthur Ganson is a renowned kinetic sculptor. He makes mechanical art demonstrations and moving artworks. His construction in the video below is a set of wire gears tethered to a chicken's wishbone, equipped with miniature spikes and made to "walk" back and forth along a miniature roadway.

Machine with Chicken Wishbone:

You can watch Arthur Ganson discussing his moving sculptures at TED here.

Cordelia Cembrowicz, 2005, Wishbone/I Wish I Only Ate Free Range Chicken, Copper Plate Etching on Paper, Edition of 11, 33cm x 27cm:




Mark Brown, Picking A Bone With The Tea Fairy, 2009, 12 x 16 acrylic on canvas:


Wishbone by artist Mark Handforth is a 7-½ foot tall aluminum sculpture (shown here on display at MOCA North Miami in 2010). Handforth digitally enlarged an image of a chicken wishbone to produce the massive sculpture:


Steven Kenny, 2011, The Wishbone, 30" x 28", oil on canvas:


Cass Samms' Furcula, 2011 is four stylized bronze wishbone pieces which interconnect with one another creating an interactive space:

The sculpture, oxidized in the photo below, is approximately 1.6m wide, 2.7m long and 1m high and sits on the edge of the rocks overlooking the beach and river crossing.


Furculae is a collection of artfully composed wishbones by artist/Photographer Jamie Newton of Concrete Wheels:




Christina Donato's Wishbone sculpture is made of Bloodwood and sterling silver:


Artist Charles Price has both sculpted and painted a series of wishbones:



Lucky Seven is a wishbone pinwheel by artist  Janelle Iglesias:


Two graphic designers have even created Wishbone fonts.
Wishbone by Casey Finn (free download here):

Wishbone by Emilee Higgins:


Wishbones are 'en vogue' in terms of decorative objects and jewelry. There are several wishbone prints, paintings, charms, objet d'arts and more available to purchase on etsy and in many online stores.




Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you get the larger end of the wishbone.