Happy Thanksgiving: 10 Lesser Known Facts About this National Holiday

November 26, 2020 by Kellan Jansen

For many, Thanksgiving is one of the year’s top highlights. While we all know the basics of the holiday, some Thanksgiving facts may surprise you. Take a look below to find 10 of the least known facts about this national holiday.

10 Interesting Facts About Thanksgiving

1. People Used to Dress Up for Thanksgiving

In the early 1900s, Thanksgiving was a lot like Halloween. People would dress up in masks and participate in costume parades in large cities. The holiday even earned the nickname “Ragamuffin Day” due to the popularity of children dressing up like poor people in New York.

2. Turkey Doesn’t Actually Make You Tired

There’s a common misconception that the tryptophan in turkey makes us tired after our Thanksgiving meals. However, that’s not really the case. WebMD says that the urge to nap after Thanksgiving dinner is caused by the tremendous amount of carbohydrates we tend to consume.

3. The Average American Consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day

That’s more than double the recommended daily amount for many adults. Researchers estimate about 3,000 of these calories tend to come from Thanksgiving dinner itself while another 1,500 come from snacking.

4. Thomas Jefferson Hated Thanksgiving

When he first heard the idea, he called it, “the most ridiculous idea ever conceived”.

5. Americans Eat Approximately 535 Million Pounds of Turkey on Thanksgiving

Compare that to the fact that the United States has a population of around 330 million. That means more than a pound of turkey is eaten for every American on the holiday.

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6. The First Thanksgiving Football Game Was Played in 1876

Since then, football has become synonymous with the holiday thanks to the rise of the NFL. Now, tens of millions of families across the country tune in to see their favorite teams battle it out for turkey day supremacy.

7. The “Mother of Thanksgiving” Wrote Mary Had a Little Lamb

Sara Hale is regularly credited with influencing President Lincoln to create a national day of thanksgiving. She was also a tireless advocate for women teachers, nurseries, and the first to propose public playgrounds. However, she’s most remembered for her famous nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.

8. Thanksgiving is the Busiest Travel Day of the Year

It’s a commonly held belief that the days before and after Thanksgiving Day are some of the busiest travel days of the year. However, it’s the day of the holiday itself that’s the busiest. That means you probably won’t beat the traffic if you try to travel on Thanksgiving Day instead of before or after it.

9. There’s a Reason Why Black Friday is Called Black Friday

The name Black Friday first caught on in the 1930s. It was chosen because stores hoped that this day would bring their profits out of the red and into the black. If you're shopping for Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year, check out the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

10. Americans Buy 60 Million Boxes of Stove Top Stuffing Each Thanksgiving Season

That number doesn’t account for Americans who make homemade stuffing or those who purchase from another company. This means that stuffing is one of the most widely-consumed Thanksgiving side dishes in the country.