Pilgrim Facts

The Pilgrims were originally called Puritans or Separatists because they wanted to purify the Church of England from Catholic influences and they wanted to separate from the Anglican Church, leave England for a new land
The Pilgrims first settled in Holland when they left England but feared that they would lose their cultural identity so they left for a new land
The pilgrims brought beer with them on their voyage
The pilgrims chose Thursday to have their feast because it was the day that they had their mid-week prayers
The real Plymouth Rock is now about the size of a car engine. It’s been cracked 3 times. Once it was cracked in half during the Revolutionary War when it was being pried from it’s location to be put on a pedestal.

Celebration Facts

Sarah Hale (1788-1879) , editor of the the women’s magazine “The Godey’s Lady’s Book”. Sarah is credited as the person most responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday in the US. She hand wrote letters to Congress for years asking them to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the LAST Thursday in the month
In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up one week to help stimulate the Christmas shopping economy. It did not go over very well, in 1941 Congress voted that Thanksgiving would always be on the 4th Thursday of November and made it a Federal Holiday.
Gimbels in Philadelphia was the first department store to hold a Thanksgiving parade in 1920. Four years later Macy’s had it’s first Thanking Day Parade.
The Kids Table was an established part of the celebration by the 19th century.

North Carolina produces the most turkeys.
Turkeys can run 25 mph, fly 55 mph for short distances and they can drown if they look up in the rain.
Full grown turkeys have approximately 3,500 feathers. The dangling skin under their neck is called a wattle and the skin that hangs over it’s beak or nose is called a snood.
When Butterball started it’s Turkey Talk line in 1982 six home economists responded to 11,000 phone calls
You should thaw a turkey ONE WHOLE DAY in the refrigerator for every 4 pounds of bird, wrapped laying breast side up
You should cook all your turkey stuffing ingredients just before you stuff the bird. Do not make it hours or days in advance.
The best place to put the meat thermometer is in the thigh.
Male turkeys are often referred to as a “Tom Turkey after Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Franklin mockingly created the name after Jefferson opposed his idea to make the turkey our national bird.
In 1947 President Harry S. Truman was the first to pardon a turkey, starting a long standing tradition.

Wisconsin produces the most cranberries.
To make sure that it is not too ripe to for harvest and sale, a cranberry must bounce at least 4 inches high.

Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on medium-high for 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced – stirring occasionally. You’ll hear the cranberries popping – don’t worry, that’s what you want them to do. Remove from heat and serve. Cranberry sauce can be made days ahead and brought to room temperature or slightly heated before serving.