Fun facts about Thanksgiving
-Emma Irons

Jingle Bells was originally written in 1857 as a song for Thanksgiving, not Christmas.

Americans eat about 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving.

The average person eats around 3,000 calories at Thanksgiving dinner.

Fresh cranberries can bounce — that’s how farmers test them!

Most Thanksgiving turkeys weigh about 15 pounds.

The largest pumpkin pie ever made weighed 3,699 pounds.

Butterball has a Turkey Hotline that gets over 100,000 calls every year.

Mac and cheese has become one of the most popular side dishes in some states.

Many people eat dessert twice (and pretend it’s fine because it’s a holiday).

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade uses balloons as tall as buildings, and it takes dozens of people to hold each giant balloon so it doesn’t fly away.

Snoopy has appeared in the Macy’s Day Parade more than any other balloon character.

Turkeys can run up to 20 mph.

Male turkeys can gobble, but female turkeys can’t — they make chirps.

Turkeys sleep in trees, not on the ground.

Turkeys can actually swim using their wings like paddles.

Every year, the president pardons two turkeys so they don’t get eaten.

People send over 10 million texts on Thanksgiving saying “I’m thankful for you!”

About 80% of Americans watch football on Thanksgiving.

Some families put on Turkey Trot races before they eat.

Over 4 million travelers fly during Thanksgiving week.

The day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest pizza delivery days of the year.

There’s a turkey species called the “Fried Turkey”… but it’s actually just a special cooking style, not a real bird.

Over 200 million pounds of turkey are eaten during Thanksgiving week.

The average American travels over 50 miles to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Green bean casserole was invented in 1955 and is now eaten by 20+ million families every Thanksgiving.

Over 5 million gallons of gravy are eaten on Thanksgiving.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the biggest grocery shopping day of the entire year.

Some towns host pumpkin chunking contests, where people launch pumpkins with catapults just for fun.

About 40 million dinner rolls are eaten on Thanksgiving in the U.S. every year.

About 80 million pounds of cranberries are eaten during Thanksgiving week in the United States.