Thanksgiving Conversation Savers

Happy Thanksgiving from Royal Garage Door!

In attempt to make things more relaxed this Thanksgiving, here is a list of fun facts about Thanksgiving!

  1. Turkey was not served at the first Thanksgiving! Shellfish, boiled pumpkin, berries, and deer were staples of the menu.
  2. The original Thanksgiving actually spanned three days, sometime between September 21st and November 1st.
  3. Forks weren’t used because they weren’t invented yet– only spoons and knives!
  4. The first Thanksgiving was held in the autumn of 1621. 140 people, only 5 were believed to have been women.
  5. The first presidential pardon of a turkey was in 1947 with President Truman.
  6. Turkey isn’t actually responsible for the drowsiness notorious on Thanksgiving. Scientists say that the alcohol, high-calorie meal, and relaxation after a busy week makes you drowsy.
  7. Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour when scared.
  8. The first Thanksgiving football game was in 1876.
  9. The NFL started the Thanksgiving Classic games in 1920, and since then the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys have hosted games on Turkey Day.
  10. Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, not the eagle.
  11. Americans eat 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving. 535 million pounds of turkey!
  12. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first meal in space after walking on the moon was foil packets with roasted turkey.
  13. The heaviest turkey on record was 86 pounds.
  14. Female turkeys do not gobble.
  15. There are three towns named Turkey in the US… Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina. All have fewer than 500 residents.
  16. The original Macy’s Day Parade in 1924 used live animals from the Central Park Zoo.
  17. The average person consumes 4500 calories on Thanksgiving day–enough to gain 1.3 pounds.
  18. Jingle Bells was originally a Thanksgiving song!
  19. In 1953, Swanson overestimated the number of frozen turkeys that would sell by 26 tons. The company sliced up the extra mean, repackaged it, and created the first ever TV dinner.
  20. Black Friday is the busiest day for plumbing companies. They are called in to clean up “over-whelmed” sewer systems.
  21. The night before Thanksgiving is the biggest drinking night of the year. Even bigger than St. Patrick’s Day or New Year’s eve!
  22. Thanksgiving is the second most popular holiday after Christmas.
  23. Turkey’s typically depicted in Thanksgiving pictures are no the same as domestic turkeys most people eat at Thanksgiving. Domestic turkeys usually weigh twice as much and are too fat to fly.
  24. The average long-distance Thanksgiving trip is 214 miles.
  25. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.
  26. The Snoopy balloon has appeared in the Macy’s parade more than any other character.
  27. Thanksgiving can occur as early as November 22 and as late as November 28th.

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

Love,

Royal Garage Door