"Thanksgiving Symbols and Traditions"

The biggest Thanksgiving symbol is the turkey, of course. Most likely, this connection goes back to Thanksgiving's very beginning. At the time of the first Thanksgiving, Governor William Bradford commented on "the great store of wild turkeys." Turkey is such a major part of the Thanksgiving holiday that more than 90 percent of Americans eat it on that day (Scripps Howard News Service).

Every year the President of the United States pardons a turkey on the night before Thanksgiving. This tradition began more than 50 years ago with Harry Truman and has continued ever since. The pardoned turkey lives its remaining days at the Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo in Virginia.

After turkey, the most significant dish on the table is corn. Most likely, the Pilgrims wouldn't have survived if the Native Americans hadn't taught them about this native crop, so corn is a symbol of the survival of the colonies, as well as the harvest and the fall season.

Cranberries were probably on the first Thanksgiving table. The American Indians taught the Pilgrims to make a cranberry sauce called "ibimi," meaning bitter berry. When the colonists saw the berry, they re-named it "crane-berry," because its flowers resembled the long-necked bird called the crane. Cranberries are still grown in New England.

Thanksgiving Stats

• Americans consume about 18.5 pounds (8.4 kg) of turkey each year.
• There are three U.S. cities named after the turkey: Turkey, TX, Turkey Creek, LA, and Turkey, NC.
• There are eight cities in the U.S. named after the cranberry.
• There are 20 U.S. cities named Plymouth.

*Source: United States Census Bureau

Apart from food, the biggest Thanksgiving traditions are football and parades. In ancient harvest festivals, people usually celebrated with games and sports, so you could argue the football tradition has very deep roots. The traditional American Thanksgiving football game was usually between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but as football has become more popular, there are now more games on Thanksgiving day. The tradition of Thanksgiving parades goes back to the early 20th century, when urbanites started to see Thanksgiving as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In order to attract customers, stores like Macy's sponsored elaborate parades.

Finally, because Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November and thus falls on a different date each year, the President of the United States issues a yearly proclamation to establish the date of the celebration. In 1863, President Lincoln began the tradition, and every president since has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation.

For more information on Thanksgiving and other holidays, check out the links on the next page.

Turkey Facts

• At one time, both the turkey and the bald eagle were national symbols of America.
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one-sixth of the 300 million turkeys sold each year are sold for Thanksgiving.
• A turkey under 16 weeks old is called a fryer; a roaster is usually five to seven months old.
• Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears.
• Age is the most important factor in the taste of a turkey. Old males are preferable to young ones. The opposite is true for female birds.
• Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the western hemisphere.

*Sources: Scripps Howard News Service and FactMonster

Source: Howstuffworks "Thanksgiving Symbols and Traditions"

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