Green bean history - Other than turkey and dressing, green bean casserole
is probably the most iconic Thanksgiving food. The casserole, which usually
contains green beans, cream of mushroom soup, French fried onions, milk and soy
sauce was invented in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly at the Campbell Soup Company. The
original copy of the recipe is now at the Inventors Hall of Fame.
How many Calories? The average person consumed 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day, enough
to gain about 1.3 pounds. To put that in perspective, a 160-pound person would
have to run at a steady pace for six hours, swim for seven-and-a-half hours or
walk 45 miles to burn off the Thanksgiving dinner.
Ben Franklin and turkeys – In 1784, Ben Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter suggesting that
the wild turkey would be a more appropriate national symbol for the U.S. than
the Continental Congress' choice of the bald eagle. He thought turkeys were
more respectable and "true original Native of America."
Gobble! Gobble! Baby turkeys are called poults. Only male turkeys gobble,
therefore, are called gobblers.
Football and food -The Detroit Lions Thanksgiving day game is a holiday tradition. The
Lions played their first Thanksgiving Day football game in 1934, when they
hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit Stadium. The game was
broadcast via NBC Radio, making it the first national football broadcast. It
made its television debut in 1956.
Who had the First Thanksgiving? Everyone
has been taught that the
first Thanksgiving dinner was held in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with the
Pilgrims hosting the native Wampanoag tribe. HOWEVER, despite the popular conception that New Englanders
held that first Thanksgiving in America, it actually was held in 1619 in
Virginia, led by Captain John Woodlief of Peterly Manor, Bucks, England - more
than a year before the Mayflower set sail for Plymouth.
History records that the first Thanksgiving occurred when Captain Woodlief -
a veteran of Jamestown who had survived its “starving time” of 1608 and 1609 -
led his crew and passengers from their ship to a grassy slope along the James
River for the New World’s first Thanksgiving service on Dec. 4, 1619. There,
the English colonists dropped to their knees and prayed as the British company
expedition sponsor had instructed.
And now for another original happening, make this Thanksgiving as well as
all the other holiday events attended by family, to begin Your Family Museum. Start
gathering up all the stories, pictures and memorabilia to be preserved and
displayed. Organize groups within the family to do the collecting, make schedules
to meet and assess where everyone is with their mission, for this is a mission
every family should partake it, because after all, it is your history. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving at
Berkley Plantation. Massachusetts-native President John F. Kennedy acknowledged Virginia’s
claim in his official Thanksgiving Day Proclamation for 1963 and 100 years
before that, President Abraham Lincoln, who visited Berkeley once, also
acknowledged Virginia’s first-Thanksgiving claim. To this day, Virginia
continues to commemorate its noteworthy event the first Sunday each November at
Berkeley Plantation, the original Thanksgiving site.
How to Create Your Family Museum is now on Facebook. Check it our and feel free to write you comments there. Thank You.
