Interesting History & Fun Facts about Thanksgiving

Did you know Thanksgiving has some very interesting history & fun facts? 

Gobble Gobble is ONLY the sound from a male turkey. Females, called hens, will cackle! And did you know that turkeys cannot see at night?

TV Dinners evolved in 1953 because too much turkey was left over from the holiday. An employee at Swanson Foods misjudged how many frozen turkeys would sell that year by 26 TONS! So the idea of TV dinners with some fixings was conceived and the idea flourished.

The 1st Thanksgiving was almost a FAST and not a FEAST! The early settlers gave thanks with prayer and abstaining from food. This was the original plan for Thanksgiving until the Wampanoag Indians joined the settlers and the fast turned into a feast!

The 1st Thanksgiving feast did NOT have mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies or cranberries. Rather they feasted on lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, nuts, onions, dried fruits, syrup, honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese.

The 1st Thanksgiving had NO forks. At that time only knives, spoons and fingers were used for eating. Can you imagine using your fingers at Thanksgiving?

The annual Macy’s Day Parade started in the 1920’s.

In the United States, about 280 MILLION turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving.  In a year’s time, the average American eats between 16-18 pounds of turkey! And people in California consume the most turkey.

There are four towns in the United States named “Turkey”. They can be found in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game Yale vs Princeton.

The average weight of a turkey is 15 pounds and turkey has more protein than chicken or beef.  And last but not least, on Thanksgiving day turkey is the preferred menu item with 91% of Americans eating turkey and eating an average of 4,500 calories.

So give us a call now before your guests arrive or when all your guests leave you with spots on the carpet or wine spilled, give Chem-Dry of Michiana a call to clean-up before the next holiday rolls around!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!