The First Thanksgiving
This was not on the first Thanksgiving Menu
What is Turkey?
True or False - More than half of the people in the Plymouth colony died that winter of 1621
What is True?
This state raises the most turkeys
What is Minnesota?
With 41 million turkeys raised in 2015 Minnesota tops the chart for turkey production. Next up is North Carolina with 31 million turkeys raised. Then Arkansas coming in third with 27.5 million turkeys.
Breaking these is a tradition for good luck on Thanksgiving Day
What is Wishbones?
Breaking wishbones to grant secret wishes isn't an American original. The tradition was inherited from the British, who got it from the Romans, who adopted it from the Etruscans who believed that birds had oracle powers. When birds died they would keep the wishbone and stroke it as they made wishes, which isn't too far off from the modern practice.
This holiday birthed the first-ever TV dinner
What is Thanksgiving?
The first-ever TV dinner came from Thanksgiving leftovers! In 1953 a worker at Swanson ordered too many frozen turkeys (260 tons too many to be exact) so a company salesman named Jerry Thomas had the idea to create a packaged dinner on aluminum trays. After an assembly line of women scooped turkey, corn-bread dressing, peas, and sweet potatoes onto the trays, the TV dinner was born!
This meat was brought by the native Americans to the first Thanksgiving
What is Deer (venison)?
After they arrived, some of the Native Americans went out hunting and brought back five deer to give to the governor, the captain, and others.
The Pilgrims came to the New world seeking religious freedom and were also called this term
What is the Puritans?
They wanted to purify the teachings and ceremonies of the Church of England.
A full grown turkey has about this many feathers
What is 3,500?
This tradition has been around since the 30's, allowing Americans to have post-dinner plans figured out ever since.
What is watching football?
Millions of Americans tune in to watch football on Thanksgiving every year, and it all started because the owner of the Detroit Lions wanted to promote the game in his baseball-obsessed city and convinced NBC to broadcast the game. Ever since that first NFL broadcast in 1934, the Lions have played on every Thanksgiving except during WW2. The Dallas Cowboys joined in on this NFL tradition in the '60s
This decade was the first to introduce green bean casserole, a Thanksgiving staple in many households
What is the 1950s (Specifically 1955)?
The green bean casserole was created by the Campbell Soup Company and more specifically by Dorcas Reilly.
The length of the first Thanksgiving celebration last
What is, 3 days?
It was celebrated much earlier than our current celebration, possibly in late September. There were about 50 European settlers and around 90 native Americans who attended the 3-day feast.
It took this many days for the Mayflower to travel across the Atlantic Ocean
What is 66 days?
When you think about the aftermath of a big Thanksgiving feast is dozing off on the couch because of this culprit!
What is, Tryptophan?
While we universally blame the amino acid tryptophan for knocking us out, the truth is that there isn't all that much of the stuff in turkey. So, that sluggishness probably has a lot more to do with stuffing ourselves silly with potatoes, pie, and the like than mostly blameless tryptophan.
This president deemed Thanksgiving as an annual holiday
What is, Abraham Lincoln?
As a nation, the US has celebrated Thanksgiving off and on since 1774. In 1789 George Washington made a proclamation that the American people should celebrate a day of thanksgiving to God on November 26th. Some presidents after him continued the tradition, sporadically declaring days of Thanksgiving. But it wasn’t until 1863 with Lincoln proclaiming a day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November that it became an annual holiday. Every year after that Presidents proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be a day of Thanksgiving. It was changed to be the fourth Thursday in under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Name 3 staple food items present on the Thanksgiving table today
What is turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, yams, pumpkin pie, lasagna, Beef soup, cheesecake, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, squash etc?
This food was present at the first Thanksgiving but is rarely eaten at Thanksgiving now
What is Seafoo?
Because Plymouth Colony relied heavily on fishing there was plenty of seafood at the first Thanksgiving. In his journal titled Of Plymouth Plantation the leader of the Plymouth Colony William Bradford had this to say about the harvest before the first Thanksgiving: “For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion.”
There were how many men, women, and children on board the Mayflower
What were 101 men, women, and children on board?
This is what turkey chicks are called
What is Pults or turkeylings?
Let me just say, turkeylings is an amazing name for baby turkeys. Female turkeys are called hens, and males are called toms in the US or stags in Europe.
This was the decade both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and America’s Thanksgiving Parade started
What is, The 1920’s (specifically 1924)?
America’s Thanksgiving Parade was inspired by Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade in Toronto, Ontario and the papier-mache heads that he saw on a trip to Europe. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was started by Louis Bamberger in Newark, New Jersey but was transferred to New York City where it is now held by Macy’s.
This century was the first pumpkin pies, as we know them made
What is the 17th century (1600s)?
Although the pumpkin is native to North America, the pumpkin pie was actually first made in England and Europe. It wasn’t until the 19th century that pumpkin pies as we know them started showing up in American cookbooks.
This year was the first celebration that is most commonly considered to be the first Thanksgiving
What is, 1621?
This is the celebration that people most often talk about when they are talking about the “first” Thanksgiving. But there are others that are claimed to be the first Thanksgiving. There was another celebration in Plymouth in 1623 and one in Boston in 1631 that people claim was the actual first Thanksgiving. In reality there were lots of Thanksgiving celebrations in North America before 1621 as well, because days of Thanksgiving were often celebrated after good events that were deemed to have the hand of God behind them.
This Indian tribe taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land and were invited to the Thanksgiving meal
What is the Wampanoag tribe?
This is the wobbly red piece of flesh on top of the beak of a turkey!
What is a snood?
The red bit of flesh under the beak is called a wattle. We are definitely not helping the turkey’s reputation as a silly animal with all these names
This culture produced the idea of the cornucopia, the horn of plenty
What is Greek culture?
The cornucopia is very prevalent in Greek mythology. With one origin story having baby Zeus breaking off a horn from a divine goat that was suckling him. Another origin story has Heracles ripping off the horn of a river god named Achelous. The cornucopia then became associated with several Greek and Roman deities.
This is how many calories, on average, an American consumes during Thanksgiving dinner
What is 4,500 calories!