I love Thanksgiving! It’s the only holiday where I really reflect on my gratitude. This internal acknowledgement does something to me in a deeper way than outward forms of expression.
Like many people I am thankful for my health, my family and friends but also for all of you who have supported our all-natural, luxe wellness, skin care products!
I am also thankful for where facts and humor can take us. With that in mind here are some fun Thanksgiving facts I came across and want to share with you.
- Historians have no record of turkey being eaten at the first Thanksgiving.The first Thanksgiving Day feast happened in 1621 with three whole days dedicated to the celebration. It is believed that ducks, geese, venison, oysters, lobster, eel, fish, pumpkins and cranberries were the actual stars of the festivities, served by the English settlers and Native Americans.
- “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving Day song.Originally, Jingle Bells was an 1857 song titled “One Horse Open Sleigh” and its composer, James Pierpont, intended it to be a Thanksgiving Day song. Instead, it became so popular around December 25, that in 1859 the title was changed to “Jingle Bells” and the rest is history!
- President George H. W. Bush was the first to pardon a turkey.In 1989, the 42nd president pardoned the first turkey ever after noticing the 50-pound bird looked a little antsy at his official Thanksgiving proclamation.
Since then, every president has upheld the tradition and a few of the turkeys have gone on to serve a different purpose. Thank you, President George H. W. Bush!
- There are three small towns in the United States named after this bird.They are Turkey, Texas; Turkey, North Carolina; and Turkey Creek, Louisiana. There are also two townships in Pennsylvania called
Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot.
- Thanksgiving leftovers inspired the first-ever TV dinner.In 1953, the TV-dinner company Swanson overestimated the demand for turkey by over 260 tons, (according to Smithsonian Magazine). The owners of the company had no idea what to do with all the leftovers and enlisted the help of company salesman Gerry Thomas. Taking inspiration from airplane meals, Thomas ordered 5,000 aluminum trays, loaded them with the turkey leftovers and created the first TV dinner.
The definition of Thanksgiving per Wikipedia is: A day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.
May your harvest be bountiful, full of all the rewards you worked hard for and deserve. Wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. YASOU!