Talking Turkey

. 

Amaze the crowd at the Thanksgiving table with your knowledge of the holiday. 

 

Here are five things you will know (and they probably won’t!)

v     The main course for the Pilgrims at that first Harvest feast wasn’t turkey but was probably venison, supplied by their Indian guests.  And the meal definitely didn’t include pumpkin pie, bread rolls or stuffing.  The Pilgrims had no ovens to bake and very little sugar for sweets. Yes, it was a hard life! 

v     The Pilgrims didn’t use forks so it was knives, spoons, and fingers only for the first Thanksgiving.  

v     Each year, the President pardons a turkey, and nobody knows exactly why.  Some say it happens because Abraham Lincoln pardoned his son Tad’s pet turkey.  After President Bush pardoned a turkey in 2005, the gobbler, like a Superbowl champion, was flown toDisneyland  to serve as Grand Marshall in Disneyland’s Thanksgiving Parade.

v      In case you ever wondered, the average American consumes on average, 4500 calories, at a Thanksgiving dinner, but then who really cares?  Just  pass the mashed potatoes.  

v     And, remember, it was Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War, who made Thanksgiving Day a national holiday to be celebrated every year on the last Thursday of November. You can find his declaration at www.historyplace.com/lincoln/thanks.htm.   It  is interesting to read because even in the middle of that terrible war, he rightly saw that there are always reasons for Americans to be thankful and optimistic about the future. 

             

Comments

[johndamion]

"It is interesting to read because even in the middle of that terrible war, he rightly saw that there are always reasons for Americans to be thankful and optimistic about the future." That's a great sentiment. We sure need some optimism right now,
and we can all find things to be thankful for. We all take alot of things for granted. Happy Thanksgiving, Myrna!