Every year on the fourth Thursday on November, Americans celebrate their Thanksgiving Day.
The celebration started in the year 1621, when the Pilgrims raised a feast in honour of the Powhatan tribesmen to thank them for helping them survive the harsh winter when almost half the townsmen of Plymouth had perished.
It was also to commemorate the help of the Wampanoag tribesmen who taught them to catch eel as well as grow corn.
In today’s world, Thanksgiving is more the celebration to thank God for life as well as one’s family and friends that to keep up with the tradition of the Pilgrims.
Food, Football and Family are the highlights of any Thanksgiving Day when turkey is served with aplomb all over the united states of America along with pumpkin pie as well as apple cider.
Here are 20 best infographics on Thanksgiving:
1. Thanksgiving Vocabulary
Thanksgiving is the first of the celebrations that kicks off the holiday season including Christmas and New Year. On this day, the most popular activities that a family performs as a whole are to help the needy and homeless, watch the Thanksgiving parade as well as bake a sumptuous pumpkin pie.
Source: http://www.grammar.net/thanksgiving
2. Turkey-Centred Facts About Thanksgiving
The one thing that defines any Thanksgiving Day is the feast at the end of the day. The average cost of a traditional turkey dinner for 10 people, of which almost 25% is wasted, comes up to about $49.48. And after eating all that food, it takes about three hours on the elliptical trainer or four and half hours of Zumba or 14 hours of walking at 2 miles per hour, to burn 2486 calories. That ofcourse is quite a meal and quite a lot of exercise.
Source: http://blogs.hrblock.com/2013/11/18/feast-of-thanksgiving-stats-infographic/
3. Plan A Healthy Thanksgiving
Planning Thanksgiving in advance can make work on the actual date a lot easier. Which is why, a planning three week in advance not only will keep you healthy and going throughout the period, it will also help you to serve your family and friends better on Thanksgiving Day and also ensure that there are no goof-ups.
Source: http://greatist.com/health/illustrated-guide-healthy-thanksgiving
4. Food On Thanksgiving
For Thomas Jefferson, the concept of Thanksgiving might have been the most ridiculous idea, but for most Americans, Thanksgiving is a major day for celebration. Food, being the highlight of the day, 91% of Americans are known to consume to turkey on Thanksgiving although in the West coast, Dungeness crab is also famous as an alternate main dish since early November sees the starting of the crab season.
Source: http://bigeyecreative.com/food-for-thought-a-thanksgiving-infographic/
5. A Little bit of The Thanksgiving History.
In 1621, the founders of the Plymouth Colony celebrated an autumn harvest festival that in today’s date is popularly known as Thanksgiving. It was only during the civil war that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that a day should be kept aside in November to celebrate the festival country wide since initially it was mostly celebrated individually by colonies and states.
Source:
6. Happy Thanksgiving
One highlight of the Thanksgiving Day in the United States, other than dinner of course, is the pro football game that is broadcasted every year. Football, being a major part of the American culture, over 30 Million people follow these matches over the weekend during which even a 30 seconds commercial costs a whopping $1 million.
Source: http://www.greatamericaninsurancegroup.com/Pages/default.aspx
7. A Non-GMO Thanksgiving
It is one of our basic rights as a human being to know what exactly our food has in it or is made up of. Which is why, it becomes highly necessary that we keep a lookout on whether the products we are buying to prepare our Thanksgiving dinner has not been genetically modified or not.
Source:
8. The Best Part of Thanksgiving
The three F’s that dominate thanksgiving are Family, Food and ofcourse Football. 31% of men prefer to spend time with their families while 36% women love to spend the day eating. Pumpkin pie and Stuffed turkey are the most favourite dishes of all Americans followed by Mashed Potatoes and Green beans Casserole.
Source:
9. A Thanksgiving Timeline
Once called a holiday granted by the state and the Nation to watch football, the first recorded instance of a Thanksgiving celebration was in spring 1610 when the townsmen of Jamestown, Virginia celebrated the receipt of supplies sent by English ships after a very harsh winter. It was later in 1621 that the people of Plymouth held a feast in commemoration of their first harvest and to thank the Powhatan tribesmen for helping them survive.
Source:
10. Delightful Thanksgiving Drinks And Meals
Thanksgiving should, in reality be called a Foodie holiday with all the turkey, pies, casseroles and eggnogs going around. Some of the most popular dishes that go around during a thanksgiving dinner are mashed potatoes, apples, squashes and marshmallows. But the beverages vary according to whichever dish is being served even though wine and Apple cider is still considered among the favourites.
Source: http://www.gourmandia.com/recipes/browse-all-recipes/thanksgiving
11. A 100-Mile Thanksgiving
With petrol prices on the rise, limiting trips to buy products for your Thanksgiving dinner, to a 100 mile radius, will not just help you to save on fuel but with also ensure that the food you buy has been locally sourced. Finding out about local farmers is a start but so is knowing what seasonal fruits and vegetables are available in your area which guarantees that you get value for money products.
Source: http://www.sustainableamerica.org/blog/how-to-have-a-100-mile-thanksgiving/
12. Turkey And Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is one such holiday that sees 42.5 Million Americans travelling across 50 miles or more in a bid to reach family and friends so that they can spend some quality time at home. The favourite dish of Thanksgiving Day, turkey, is so popular in the US that it has four places named after it. The heaviest turkey even raised weighed 86 pounds and was about the size of a large dog.
Source: http://www.cuttingboardusa.com/
13. Plan Your Thanksgiving Without losing your Mind
Planning a Thanksgiving dinner spread could actually make you go crazy if you don’t plan it thoroughly. The week before, it would do good to plan what dishes you would like to cook, shopping for the ingredients in advance as well as planning the right decor to go with the theme of the celebration. Preparing the turkey and the cranberry sauce three days in advance as well as baking the pumpkin pie and assembling all the casserole dishes two days in advance, help you to run a smooth Thanksgiving day dinner show.
Source:
14. Budgeting Your Thanksgiving Dinner
Budgeting your thanksgiving dinner ensures that you do not have to stretch your wallet to a limit and atleast have quite a bit left for your Black Friday shopping. It is necessary to break out of the old mould and think differently as well as plan well in advance so that the rising cost of celebration does not affect your dinner spread.
Source: http://blog.yummly.com/blog/2012/11/thanksgiving-dinner-on-a-budget-infographic/
15. Thanksgiving in Social Media
With life moving online for most of us, discussing thanksgiving plans on social networks becomes unavoidable. We find almost 156k mentions of Thanksgiving dinner, specifically of stuffing on social media sites whereas turkey gets mentioned almost 6.5 million times on twitter. Pumpkin pie is the most talked about dessert item and so are Pecan pie and Apple pie.
Source:
16.Some Thanksgiving Facts
Though turkey is the most favourite dish of thanksgiving now, there is no documented proof that it has always been so. Infact, it is believed that during the early time, thanksgiving was celebrated by the Native Americans and the pilgrims by consuming eagles and toasting with beer. Also, it is held that since the Wampanoag were invited for the first Thanksgiving feast n1621, they must have come with an offering of five deer.
Source:
17. Turkey by the Numbers
It is a season of having fun with family and friends, enjoying a feast and watching football. Travel and Turkey go hand in hand during Thanksgiving in the US where two-thirds of the turkey required for the feast is raised in the states of Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia and Indiana.
Source: http://www.nationwide.com/thanksgiving-facts-infographic.jsp
18. A Canadian Thanksgiving
Though the fourth Thursday in the United States is celebrated as Thaksgiving Day, in Canada, the second Monday in October is considered Thanksgiving Day. The Turkey being the most nutritious meat protein source as compared to chicken, beef, pork or salmon, is consumed in large quantities in Canada who contributes to almost 3% of the total turkey production of the world.
Source: http://www.redleafloans.ca/blog/the-terrific-thanksgiving-turkey-2/
19. Thanksgiving by the Numbers
Food is the topic that dominates most of the conversation when one mentions thanksgiving. Which is why, Pumpkin Pie is considered the ultimate desert. On most thanksgiving days, 31% of the people serve a group of 4-8 people while 48% bake their turkeys. Most of the time, folks start preparing for the feast one day in advance so that everything goes smoothly on Thanksgiving day.
Source: http://www.viewpoints.com/thegoods/Thanksgiving-by-the-Numbers
20. Thanksgiving Table Setting Guide
When we think Thanksgiving, the two things that come to our mind are food and football. While there is not much setting required while watching a game of football, one does have to make an effort to get the right table setting while entertaining guests as well as family on Thanksgiving Day.
Source: http://www.adirondackauthority.com/thanksgiving-table-setting-guide.html