We enjoy finding fun facts about Thanksgiving at GSO Orthodontics! This year, we decided to share some information at the holiday dinner table that could make you feel a little smarter and help build a great discussion with friends and family.
The Main Dish
There is no historical proof that the first Thanksgiving meal was eaten with turkey. In 1621, it was a three-day party shared by the Indians of the Wamponoag and the pilgrims. According to historians, they probably consumed venison and fish.
The dinner at the Plymouth colony was in October, according to National Geographic, and included about 50 English colonists and 90 American Indians. Corn, geese, and pumpkin may have been part of the first Thanksgiving feast.
Today, preferred meat is turkey. About 690 million pounds of turkey are eaten during Thanksgiving, or around 46 million turkeys.
The Sides
Though there were undoubtedly plenty of cranberries to be enjoyed by the pilgrims and Indians, sugar was not widely available. In those early Thanksgiving days, what we know today as cranberry sauce was not around. Every year in the US, approximately 750 million pounds of cranberries are grown, with about 30 percent consumed on Thanksgiving.
About 50 years ago, the green bean casserole became famous. It remains a popular side dish, established by the Campbell Soup Company. Every year, the company now sells around $20 million worth of mushroom soup cream, which is a big part of the recipe.
The Festivities
Until President Lincoln proclaimed it in 1863, Thanksgiving was not considered a national holiday. It wasn’t until much later, that the annual parades became regular event. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the largest parade that continues to attract crowds. They marched from Convent Avenue to 145th Street in New York City beginning in 1924, with about 400 workers. It was actually live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, popular for today’s big hot-air balloons, that were the stars of the show then.
GSO Orthodontics wishes you a peaceful, happy and healthy holiday with those you love, no matter how you choose to spend your Thanksgiving holiday.
