Fun Facts About Thanksgiving
You’ve got to love the last Thursday in November. It’s the day we give thanks for the blessings that have been bestowed on us this past year. And it’s one of those special days that we get to “pig out” at the family table. Massive amounts of turkey, yams, potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, dressing, gravy, hot cross rolls and pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip all make belt loosening a national pastime.
Not everyone is having or has had a great year. Unemployment is still high; food stamps increasing daily and many are having a hard time finding something to be thankful for. I have always felt that no matter how low I felt about my circumstance there was always someone less fortunate than I. So while there is both good and bad events in all our lives each year I always seem to be able to find something to be thankful for. I hope you will too.
Some Fun Facts About Thanksgiving
- Think the first Thanksgiving took place in the Plymouth Colony Massachusetts in 1621? Well there are some other folks ready to argue that point. Two in Texas, two in Florida, one in Maine, two in Virginia and five other spots in Massachusetts. Texas??
- Texas might actually have a shot. The first recorded Thanksgiving in America took place in 1541 in Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle area. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s expedition broke bread and gave thanks.
- President Thomas Jefferson was no fan of Thanksgiving referring to the thought of a Thanksgiving proclamation as “the most ridiculous ideas ever conceived.”
- The average family travels 214 to hobnob with the family while those going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Christmas travel 61 miles further.
- Five hundred thirty-five million pounds of turkey (267,500 tons) will be devoured on Thanksgiving Day.
- Native Americans treated arrow wounds and dyed clothing with a Thanksgiving staple, Cranberries.
- Thanksgiving politics? FDR moved Thanksgiving up to the next-to-last Thursday in November to increase the shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As you an imagine the Republicans objected and as a result November 30th became the “Republican Thanksgiving” and November 23 was “Franksgiving” or the “Democratic Thanksgiving.”
- What kind of Thanksgiving would it be without football? That tradition began in 1876 when Yale played Princeton. I guess either could have beaten Detroit.
Some Final Thoughts
Food, football, family and fun. What more could anyone ask? Times are tough and the road is often bumpy. But family and friends are the ones that get all of us through life’s many challenges. So take a minute today to appreciate the family and friends who fill your life. Yes, they are a pain sometimes but they are all you have so make sure you see the best in them. How are you celebrating “Turkey Day?”