Texas Living

Thanksgiving Trivia

By Callie Leahy 11.10.14

Thanksgiving is a time for family, football, food, and the feeling of togetherness. But, do you ever wonder what all goes into the holiday we all know and love? Or how Thanksgiving ranks among other holidays?

This year, wow your guests with these 10 stats that we’ve gathered about the Thanksgiving holiday.

  1. It took editor of Ladies Magazine, Sarah Josepha Hale, 36 years to make Thanksgiving an annual holiday. Hale is also touted as the writer of the children’s rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
  2. More than 100,000 questions are called in to the Butterball Turkey Hotline each year between November and December.
  3. Watch out turkey, pepperoni is a top contender! While turkey is typically the main entree on Thanksgiving, the holiday ranks in the top-5 for the busiest days for pizza delivery.
  4. Be careful on the roads; Research and Innovative Technology Administration Bureau of Transportation Statistics studies show during the six day Thanksgiving holiday break, long-distance travel (50 miles or more) increases by 54 percent.
  5. Not eating turkey this fall? Travel to Turkey instead! Three U.S. towns are named turkey including Turkey, Texas; Turkey Creek, Louisiana; and Turkey, North Carolina.
  6. Ever wonder what happens to all the leftover turkeys after the Thanksgiving rush? Well, the answer to that question is what we now call the modern day TV dinner, thanks to a Swanson employee with a knack for repurposing in the 1950s.
  7. The day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, holds the title as the busiest day of the year for plumbing company Roto-Rooter.
  8. Thanksgiving day itself holds the No. 1 spot in regards to home cooking fires, with Texas as the No. 1 state for deep-fried turkey related accidents.
  9. According to Susan Christian, the Director of the HEB Thanksgiving Day Parade in Houston, more than 250,000 people will attend the 65th annual parade this year. That’s a lot of candy, folks!
  10. While most believe the infamous pilgrim celebration took place at Plymouth Rock in the early 1600s, others claim the first American Thanksgiving took place in 12 different places, two of which are rumored to be in Texas.

Don’t miss our favorite Thanksgiving ideas on our Pinterest page!