by Serenity Joy Miller
You may know the history of the first Thanksgiving but you may not know these 5 interesting factoids.
1) NFL
On Thanksgiving Day in 1934, the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears battled on the field in the first NFL game to be broadcast nationally on the radio. Since 1934, the Detroit Lions have played football on every Thanksgiving Day, except those during the years of 1939 to 1944 for World War II.
2) TV Dinner
In 1953, Swanson introduced their first frozen TV dinner, which consisted of a typical Thanksgiving meal of turkey, cornbread dressing, peas, and sweet potatoes. According to one account, someone at Swanson made a huge mistake and ordered 260 extra tons of frozen turkey for Thanksgiving, and salesman Gerry Thomas came up with a solution. He ordered 5,000 aluminum trays, recruited an assembly line, and began creating TV dinner mini-feasts, which resembled compartmentalized airline meal food trays. Swanson sold over 10 million frozen TV dinners during their first full year on the market.
3) Butterball Turkey-Talk
There is a Butterball Turkey-Talk Line® that started in 1981. Six home economists answered over 10,000 calls that holiday season to help shoppers prepare and cook their Thanksgiving dinners. Nowadays, over 50 experts answer more than 100,000 Turkey-Talk questions every November and December via phone, instafirst nt messaging, email, live chat, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Skype.
4) Holiday Service for Soldiers
On Thanksgiving Day in 1942, London’s Westminster Abbey held a holiday service for over 3,500 American soldiers who were stationed in England. The troops gathered together to enjoy a program featuring patriotic songs including “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America, the Beautiful.” This was the first time in 900 years that a foreign army was invited to congregate on the grounds.
5) Buckles
Pilgrims did not wear buckled hats, shoes, or belts. Buckles were expensive and were not in fashion until decades after the first Thanksgiving took place. The pilgrims used leather laces to hold up their pants and tie their shoes.
