In a survey conducted by the National Turkey Federation, nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The average weight of turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds, which means some 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the U.S. during Thanksgiving in 2007.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade—to signify the launch of the Christmas shopping season—the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, some 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The average age of the Mayflower passenger was 32. The oldest Mayflower passenger was 64.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was no milk, cheese, bread, butter or pumpkin pie at the original Thanksgiving Day feast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims did not have big buckles on their clothing, shoes, or hats.
Buckles did not come into fashion until the late 1600s – more appropriate for the Salem Witchcraft trial time period.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cranberry got its name because the pale pink blossoms on the plant resembled a crane’s head and neck. The name craneberry stuck, eventually becoming cranberry.
Fresh cranberries are ideal for cranberry sauce. Cranberries of the highest quality will always bounce! (If you try this at home, please wash the cranberries before eating.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
President Abraham Lincoln established the original date for our National Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1863.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of establishing a national “Thanksgiving Day.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congress did not declare Thanksgiving a national holiday until 1941.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. (Now that's a lot of turkey!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The First Thanksgiving lasted for three days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fun Facts on the Turkey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, however wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour over short distances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A turkey under 16 weeks of age is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a roaster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turkeys can drown if they look up when it's raining!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick History of Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating and by the fall they had lost 46 of the original 102 people who sailed on the Mayflower. However, the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one and the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast, so they invited the Native American Indians who had helped them survive their first year. The feast lasted three days and included wild ducks, geese, venison, fish, boiled pumpkin, berries and dried fruits. It is not certain that wild turkey was a part of their feast since the pilgrims used the word “turkey” to mean any sort of wild fowl.
However, this first Thanksgiving feast was not repeated the following year. In fact, it wasn’t until June of 1676 that the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts proclaimed another Day of Thanksgiving to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. However, much like the original Thanksgiving in 1620, this day was also not repeated the following year. Instead, October 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a Thanksgiving celebration and yet again, this was a one-time affair.
In fact, until 1863 Thanksgiving Day had not been celebrated annually since the first feast in 1621. It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize today as Thanksgiving. She encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to establish the last Thursday in November as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer, hence, Thanksgiving Day.
Today, Thanksgiving in America has become a tradition of spending time with families, watching football and parades filled with floats and marching bands, feasting on turkey and other home-cooked food, and giving thanks for everything received in the past year.
No comments:
Post a Comment