Sarah Joespha Hale, the author of “Mary had a Little Lamb”, campaigned for nearly 20 years to make Thanksgiving into a national holiday. However, it wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln finally officially made this so. Before this, the only national holidays were Independence Day and George Washington’s birthday (now known as President’s Day). In fact, Christmas didn’t even become a national holiday until 1870!
The only things known to be served at the original Thanksgiving meal were deer, cod, flint corn, fish, and a variety of fowl.
Again, thanks to Sarah Joespha Hale, we have our modern Thanksgiving menu. Hale wrote many editorials about various recipes to use for Thanksgiving, such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce.
91% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving and about 20% of the United State’s annual cranberry consumption occurs on Thanksgiving. About 280 million turkeys are sold each year for Thanksgiving translating into roughly 7 billion pounds of meat!
Though the food is great, the time spent making memories with family is even better. Capture the memories of what makes you most grateful, and frame your photos with a custom engraved picture frame from GiftWorksPlus. Their wooden picture frame features fall motifs like leaves and a cornucopia, and includes free personalization with your family’s name. Choose from vertical or horizontal options, and a variety of sizes. GiftWorksPlus has unique personalized gifts that are sure to brighten up the holidays. This Thanksgiving, between passing the potatoes and passing along Thanksgiving trivia, pass along a picture frame from GiftWorksPlus, too!