Let’s talk Turkey – 10 Fun Filled Facts About Thanksgiving and Turkeys.
1. Do male or female turkeys “gobble”?
Only male turkeys make the well-known “gobble, gobble” sound that has come to be associated with the holiday. In fact, male turkeys are even known as “gobblers.” Females make other noises, such as purring and cackling.
2. When did turkeys become the traditional roasted bird for Thanksgiving?
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. Although turkey was plentiful in the region and a common food source, it’s likely that it wasn’t actually the star of the festivities and other “fowling” were served for the occasion. Instead, “ducks, geese, and swans” are believed to have been served to the English settlers and Native Americans.
3. When was the first Turkey Trot?
The First Turkey Trot was in Buffalo, New York. It was the first city to host a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning in 1896. Only six runners participated in the race that year, running on stretches of dirt road for roughly five miles.
4. Who wanted the turkey to be the national bird?
Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird. In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country…For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird.” Although Franklin did not get his wish, his letter did inspire a song in the Tony-winning musical 1776, about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.
5. How long has the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line be in existence?
For nearly 40 years. If you find yourself with a million questions about cooking your turkey and Google is too overwhelming, reach for the phone because the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line is real and there to help you. Open to U.S. and Canadian homes every November and December, the unique hotline, which first opened in 1981, is also available to take questions via online chat and email. Plus, there are Spanish-speaking experts! Each year, Butterball experts answer more than 100,000 questions for thousands of households.
6. How many turkeys are cooked each year for Thanksgiving in the US?
Each year, about 46 million turkeys are cooked. Thanksgiving Day and turkey go hand-in-hand, so this number should not be too much of a surprise. Although not all Americans celebrate the holiday or eat turkey, there are still millions of families gathering around the table to partake in one of the most special meals of the year—and for those who aren’t satisfied with only one day of it, Christmas is also a popular occasion to cook another turkey.
7. Does eating turkey make you tired?
It is a common belief that the tryptophan in turkey will make you tired. This is not true. On Thanksgiving Day, you probably expect to be tired after eating turkey, thanks to claims made about the amino acid tryptophan. But the holiday bird is not actually to blame. The reason you can’t imagine doing anything else but watching football on the couch is just because you overate. “After you’ve had a big meal, your body goes into basically shutdown mode, and sleep gets promoted,” Dr. Daniel Barone explained to Business Insider, saying that the phenomenon is called “postprandial fatigue.”
8. Did you know that Thanksgiving leftovers led to the invention of iconic TV dinners?
Well, sort of. In 1953, an overzealous Swanson employee overestimated the number of frozen turkeys the company should order for Thanksgiving—and the company was left with 260 tons of extra turkey after the holiday. But rather than eat the loss (financially, we mean), salesman Gerry Thomas came up with the brilliant idea to create and sell individual turkey dinners complete with cornbread dressing, gravy, peas, and sweet potatoes on reheatable trays, just like airline meals. Each premade feast cost a grand total of 98 cents. By the end of 1954, Swanson had sold 10 million frozen turkey meals, and the TV dinner industry was born.
9. Who was the first president to pardon a turkey?
President George H. W. Bush was the first to pardon a turkey. In 1989, the 41st president pardoned the first turkey—that is, assured the bird that it would never become somebody’s dinner—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. In 2005 and 2009, the birds went to Disneyland and Disney World parks to participate in their annual Thanksgiving parades.
10. Where did turkeys originate?
The turkey bird is linked to the country of Turkey. If you’ve ever wondered which came first, the bird or the country, we have a definitive answer: The turkey bird got its name from the country due to a case of mistaken identity! During the Ottoman Empire, guinea fowl were exported from East Africa via Turkey to Europe, and Europeans started calling the birds turkey-cocks or turkey-hens due to the trade route. So, when Europeans first sailed to North America and discovered birds that looked like guinea fowl, they called them “turkeys.”