Gobble Up These Fun Thanksgiving Facts!

By - admin on November 1, 2016 in Community Events

Every year, families all across America gather for a day of scrumptious food, football and family on the 4th Thursday in November, otherwise known as Thanksgiving! Whether you are gathering around the table or simply hanging out with family, load up on your knowledge of this long-standing tradition and impress everyone with a few of our Thanksgiving fun facts:

Did you know?

• Over 46 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving Day in the United States, according to the National Turkey Federation.
• Much of the food associated with Thanksgiving dinner like pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes would likely not have been part of early Thanksgiving dinners. Instead, deer, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, radishes, cabbage, carrots and eggs would have made up the first Thanksgiving feast. Delicious…!
• The states that produce the most pumpkins are California, New York and Pennsylvania. These states produce over 1 billion pounds of pumpkin annually!
• The Macy’s Christmas Parade first launched on Thanksgiving Day in 1924 to signify the start to the Christmas shopping season. The parade is now referred to as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• A “spooked turkey” can run up to speeds of 20 miles per hour.
• A typical turkey contains about 30% dark meat and 70% white meat.
• At London, England’s annual “heaviest turkey” competition, Guinness World Records awarded the “greatest dressed weight” for a turkey as 86lbs.
• In 1953, the Swanson company misjudged how many turkeys Americans would consume on Thanksgiving by 26 tons. As a result, TV dinners were created to include the extra meat and some sides. Marketing genius!
• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States. He believe that the eagle had “bad moral character” while the turkey was a “much more respectable bird.”
• Only male turkeys gobble, while female turkeys cluck.
• Almost 1 million individuals complete a running road race on Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is the most popular day for road races in the United States.
• The oldest Turkey Trot race is the Buffalo Turkey Trot, and has been put on by the YMCA since 1896.
• A baby turkey is called a poult.

With your newfound plethora of Thanksgiving facts, you are sure to impress anyone at the table!

From all of us at Martin Auto Color, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!