As many know today, Thanksgiving is a celebration of family and friends with lots of food, turkey, and football, it is a time of grace and comfort. This grand celebration, however, is a blend of facts and myths, as there is not enough evidence to match up to what we are being told back in school.

In this article, we will compile a list of exciting things about Thanksgiving that you probably have not heard anywhere else;

 

10 fascinating thanksgiving facts

1. Thanksgiving became a national holiday only after 200 years of reign: For centuries, Thanksgiving was celebrated by individuals, colonies, and states. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the Last November of the year and subsequently to be a national holiday.

• The pilgrims didn’t have turkey: While we believe that the first thanksgiving feast was celebrated with a turkey, historians believe that the pilgrims who started this event had no turkeys. Instead, they had ducks, geese, venison, oysters, lobsters, eel, and fish.

• Americans eat an average of 40 million turkeys per year to celebrate Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving is a scary time to be a turkey as Americans gobble down over 40 million turkeys each Thanksgiving and another 20 million plus on Christmas. An average turkey weighs 15 pounds, meaning over 600 million pounds of turkey is consumed yearly on Thanksgiving. Poor birds!

• Thanksgiving was originally on the last Thursday of November: Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of every November to be Thanksgiving. However, in 1939, the previous Thursday was the 30th of the month, and many merchants thought celebrating that late could negatively impact Christmas sales and dampen the economy. It was then readjusted to the fourth of November by President Roosevelt.

• Thanksgiving was meant to be a Fast:  The gluttonous event we know as Thanksgiving today was originally started when the devout settlers at Plymouth organized giving thanks through prayer and fasting. It was the Wampanoag Indians who joined the pilgrims for their three days celebrations that began feasting, gaming and dancing.

• The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is known as Blackout Wednesday or drinks giving: In many areas of the United States, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is usually the biggest drinking night of the year. Many people may visit their family and friends on this night to hang out and enjoy the long weekend.

• The Friday after Thanksgiving is Black Friday: Black Friday is when merchants celebrate the end of a financial year due to a massive turnout of customers on Thanksgiving. These days, goods and services are purchased at a much lower price or discount rate.

• The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day for plumbers: It may sound like a joke, but according to plumbing company Roto-Rooter, the day after Thanksgiving is their busiest day of the year, perhaps because turkey grease, potato peels, and rice are sure to clog your drain or overwork your garbage disposal.

• The British don’t officially celebrate Thanksgiving: The British have a unique holiday they prefer to honor: Brits giving.
• Many Americans prefer Thanksgiving leftovers to the actual food: A Thanksgiving feast is delicious. However, it doesn’t compare with leftovers. A 2015 Harris Poll found that 79 percent of people think eating portions is the best part of hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

WARM Blessings to all,

Diana