Grand'ther Baldwin's Thanksgiving is a collection of his writings, most of which had previously been published earlier in various periodicals. Several, such as "Carving a Name," "Where is My Boy Tonight?", "Last Words," "Song of the Croaker," and others, achieved considerable vogue and were reprinted in school readers and also in the 'reciters' that were popular for home entertainment during Alger's time. "John Maynard," a ballad of a heroic sailor that first appeared in the January, 1868 issue of "Student and Schoolmate," was tremendously popular and quickly became a standard presentation at scholastic oratory contests.