In lieu of Thanksgiving, we thought we’d keep this blog light (unlike our bellies right now)!

Here are some fun & interesting Thanksgiving stats –

History:

• The first Thanksgiving celebration was held in 1621
• President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday October 3, 1863
• In 1989, President Bush pardoned a turkey
• There are 4 towns named “Turkey” in the USA

Dinner:

• The average number of calories inhaled on this day = 3,000-4,500 (that’s 8.1 billion consumed by all Americans)
• Average time it would take to ‘burn off’ those calories = 10 hours & 33 minutes
• 9% of Americans go out to a restaurant for their holiday meal
• Average cost/person for a Thanksgiving meal = $48.90
• 46 million turkeys killed for Thanksgiving each year
• 100,000 questions are answered by Butterball Turkey hotline each November-December
• 70% of Americans say it’s NOT a proper meal without turkey
• 73% of US adults say a “fridge full of leftovers” is the best thing about Thanksgiving

Shopping:

• $313 average amount of money spent per person over the 5-day Thanksgiving period
• 165 million estimated to shop over the 5-day period
• 3.7 billion dollars spent online shopping
• 16 million Thanksgiving greeting cards exchanged

Sports:

• Football Thanksgiving tradition began in 1876
• 1920 was the first year NFL games were played on Thanksgiving
• Since 1966 2 teams have always played (Do you know who they are?!)
• The first Macy’s Parade was held in 1924
• The Macy’s Parade route is 2.65 miles & there are over 8,000 participants
• There an estimated 3.5 million people who attend & 50 million TV viewers

Travel:

• 54.3 million Americans will travel for Thanksgiving
• 89.4% of travels will be drivers
• 7.8% will fly

Gratitude:

• 88% are thankful for family
• 77% are thankful for health
• 72% are thankful personal freedom
• 71% are thankful for friends
• 67% are thankful for memories
• 53% are thankful for fun experiences
• 32% are thankful for wealth