Thanksgiving Greetings

ASPPA Connect wishes its readers a happy Thanksgiving and wants to express gratitude to them — you! ASPPA Connect will not be appearing on Friday, Nov. 25; however, it will be business as usual on Monday, Nov. 28.

In keeping with the season, here are a few unusual facts about Thanksgiving.

• The Wampanoag taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land and were invited to their Thanksgiving meal.

• There are only two accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving: Edward Winslow wrote about it in a letter dated Dec. 12, 1621 and published in 1622, and William Bradford wrote about it in his History of Plymouth Plantation. His material says that turkey was on the menu.

• Initially, presidents proclaimed national Thanksgiving — Washington, Adams and Monroe did so. After 1815, presidents stopped issuing such proclamations; however, by 1850, almost every state and territory celebrated Thanksgiving.

• Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, and author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” began a campaign in 1827 to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

• The first department store to hold a Thanksgiving parade was Gimbel’s, not Macy’s.

• Harry Truman was the first President to pardon a turkey starting this annual tradition in 1947. Pardoned turkeys spend the rest of their lives on an historical farm.

• Cranberries are not tasted to see if they are sweet enough to harvest, they are bounced to see if they are ripe. Their bounce should be about four inches high.

• It is estimated that 88% of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.

• A full-grown adult turkey has around 3,500 feathers.

• Wild turkeys can fly, but those domestically grown for eating cannot because they are too heavy.