10 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a major holiday in the U.S., second only to Christmas for most Americans. So as we celebrate this special day of festivities and feasting we decided to put together a list of some of our favorite fun facts about Thanksgiving. We hope you enjoy it!

‍

• AAA estimates that 54.6 million Americans, or about 1 in 6 people, will travel 50 miles or more this Thanksgiving. That's up 1.5% from 2021.
• The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers. The primary reason is said to be clogged kitchen sink drains and garbage disposals.
• Americans consume over 700 million pounds of Turkey on Thanksgiving alone. That's over 2 lbs for each man, woman, and child!
• In 1939, during the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up by a week to allow more time for Holiday shopping. About half of state governments ended up celebrating Thanksgiving on the new date, while the other half stuck with the original date. It wasn't until 1942 that the whole of the U.S. was on the same page again and celebrated Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November.
• The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line answers over 100,000 questions annually. Operated since 1981 the Turkey company opens the hotline every December and November to answer Turkey related questions.
• The TV dinner was invented as a result of a Thanksgiving mishap. In 1953 Swanson foods was left with leftover Turkey due to an error in their Thanksgiving forecast. A salesman suggested packing them into trays with sides and selling them as TV dinners, thus ushering in a new phenomenon for many Americans. 
• There are four towns in the United States named “Turkey.” They can be found in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
• It's a myth that Turkey makes you more drowsy than other meats. The Thanksgiving food coma, or “postprandial somnolence” as it's officially called, is simply because we all eat too much.
• The average American consumes more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving day, with 3,000 calories coming from the main meal and the remainder from snacking and drinks before and after the meal. That's about 3 sticks worth of butter in fat alone.
• Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be the official bird of the U.S. instead of the bald eagle. He considered the eagle to be of "bad moral character" and highlighted that the turkey was both a "more respectable bird" and native to North America.

‍

Share These Fun Facts About Thanksgiving!

We hope these fun facts about Thanksgiving brought you some joy. If they did, or if you're simply desperate to avoid discussing politics with your family during the holidays, share them to spark some trivial conversation. If you’re a brave soul unafraid to tackle more substantive dinner table conversion then check out our other articles about the gargantuan global food waste issue, deceptive food labels, the broader grocery inflation rate and its impact on the cost of Thanksgiving dinner for fodder to fuel a deeper discussion. Whatever your choice is, we wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving!