Other than eating and spending time with family and friends, Thanksgiving has a lot of history behind it. For those who may not know all about the holiday, here are some fun facts about Thanksgiving and of course, turkeys!
THANKSGIVING
• In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving.
• In 1863, Abraham Lincoln officially set aside the last Thursday in November as a day for national thanksgiving, praise and prayer.
• In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving date a week forward in hopes that an extra seven days in the Christmas shopping season would be a boom to retailers. Americans were not happy with this and so two years later Congress passed a law that restored Thanksgiving to the last Thursday in November.
• Canada celebrates Thanksgiving too! It is held on the second Monday in October.
TURKEY
• Turkey is the traditional dish for the Thanksgiving feast. In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations. There is no official reason or declaration for the use of turkey. They just happened to be the most plentiful meat available at the time of the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
• Ben Franklin thought the North American wild turkey should be the national bird. Of course, the turkey of his day was nothing like the domesticated descendants we know today. The wild turkey of Ben Franklin's day was a brightly plumed, cunning bird of flight.
• Not all turkeys gobble. Gobbling is a male thing as hens make a clicking noise.
• Domesticated turkeys can not fly, but wild turkeys can fly up to 55 mph for short distances. They're also fast on their feet, hitting land speeds of up to 25 mph.
TRAVEL
According to the American Automobile Association…
• 86% of Thanksgiving vacationers are expected to travel by car and 6% by air this year
• This October, the time when most people make decisions in regards to Thanksgiving travel, average gasoline prices were approximately $0.77 cheaper than they were in October 2008.
• Thanksgiving travelers will journey an average of 815 miles roundtrip this upcoming holiday weekend.
Now that you know more about Thanksgiving, we’d love to know what your plans are for the holiday, if any! Share them with us and your fellow Priority Club Connect members in any or all of the threads below:
