THANKSGIVING
The first Thanksgiving in North America is believed to have been held in 1619 or 1621
Some experts think the first Thanksgiving dinner was served by the Pilgrims in 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Others credit the settlers near Virginia's Jamestown with celebrating the first Thanksgiving as their version of England's ancient Harvest Home Festival.
Per Capita Consumption of Turkey in U.S. (2010): about 18 lbs
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, supposedly as a response to a campaign organized by magazine editor Sara Joseph Hale. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving Day forward one week, as it is presently celebrated.
Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation (NTF) has presented the President of the United States with a live turkey and two dressed turkeys in celebration of Thanksgiving.
The annual presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey to the President has become a traditional holiday ritual in the nation's capital, signaling the unofficial beginning of the holiday season and providing the President an opportunity to reflect publicly on the meaning of the Thanksgiving season. After the ceremony, the live bird retires to a historical farm to live out the rest of its years.
Many people report drowsiness after eating Thanksgiving dinner. While turkey often receives the blame, studies suggest that carbohydrate-rich meals may cause sleepiness by increasing the number of tryptophans in the brain. It is the unusually large, multi-coursed, carbohydrate-rich meal most people eat on Thanksgiving that is more likely the cause of the drowsiness. So just eat the turkey and the vegetables and you may not feel drowsy. What, no stuffing, potatoes, rolls, or pie?
About 7% of shoppers wait until the day before Thanksgiving to shop for their food. About 36% shopped for their Thanksgiving food a week or more ahead of time.
Thanksgiving meals were attended by 84% of the general population of U.S. adults in 2007.
It has been estimated that 88% of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.
The top five most popular ways to serve leftover Thanksgiving turkey are:
Sandwich, Soup or Stew, Casserole, Stir-fry, & Salad.
More than 94% of Thanksgiving dinners include cranberry sauce.
According to the National Turkey Federation, about 24% of Americans purchase fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving, and 69% purchase frozen turkeys
An estimated 271 million turkeys were raised in the United States in 2007. The estimate for 2008 is about the same.
In 2007, the turkeys produced weighed 7.9 billion pounds altogether and were valued at $3.7 billion.
• Minnesota raised 49 million turkeys
• North Carolina (39 million)
• Arkansas (31 million)
• Virginia (21 million)
• Missouri (20 million)
• Indiana (15.9 million).
These six states together account for nearly 2 of every 3 turkeys produced in 2007 and 2008.
US Census Bureau, October 2008
U.S. per Capita Turkey consumption:
(a good portion of this is consumed at Thanksgiving time)
• Per capita consumption in 2007: 18 lbs
• Per capita consumption in 2002: 14 pounds
• Per capita consumption in 1990: 13.8 lbs.
• Per capita consumption in 1980: 8.1 lbs
US Census Bureau, October 2008
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