A week from today in the USA it’s Thanksgiving time. Next week will be a quiet one, when the masses spend time with family and friends, traveling among millions in cars, trains, and planes, over the river and through the woods.

This year I will make it more interactive with a quiz of facts surrounding our Thanksgiving holiday.  No LinkedIn tie-ins at all.

I hope you enjoy this:

1.   When was the first American Thanksgiving celebration?
a) 1621
b) 1734
c) 1817
d) 1863

2.   Which President first appointed an official day to celebrate Thanksgiving?
a) George Washington
b) Abraham Lincoln
c) Franklin D. Roosevelt
d) Herbert Hoover

3.   What makes us so sleepy after eating our turkey dinner?
a) Carbohydrates
b) Serotonin
c) Sugar
d) Tryptophan

4.   Which 98-cent turkey treat revolutionized life for the lazy in 1953?
a) Oscar Meyers Turkey on a Stick
b) Swanson TV dinners
c) McDonald’s Turkey McNuggets
d) NASA’s Turkey in a Tube

5.   Which soda was NOT offered in Jones Soda’s 2004-limited edition Holiday pack?
a) Candied Yam soda
b) Green Bean Casserole soda
c) Mashed Potato and Butter soda
d) Turkey and Gravy Soda

6.   The flap of the skin that hangs over the turkey’s beak is called a:
a) Gizzard
b) Poult
c) Snood
d) Wattle

7.   What character was honored with the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon in 1927?
a) Woody Woodpecker
b) Mickey Mouse
c) Felix the Cat
d) Superman

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Answers

1.   When was the first American Thanksgiving celebration?
1621
The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621.  However, it didn’t actually become an annual tradition until 1817.

2.   Which President first appointed an official day to celebrate Thanksgiving?
Abraham Lincoln
In 1863 Lincoln appointed the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.  This date may be tied to November 21, 1621, the day the Mayflower anchored at Cape Cod.

3.   What makes us so sleepy after eating our turkey dinner?
Carbohydrates
Many people think the amino acid, tryptophan, found in turkey causes us to crash.  The fact is, tryptophan’s sedative powers only work on an empty stomach.  The real culprit is the large amount of carbs we gobble down (mashed potatoes, stuffing, pie, etc.)

4.   Which 98-cent turkey treat revolutionized life for the lazy in 1953?
Swanson TV dinners   (bonus question: name the items included in the TV dinner)
It’s true, Swanson’s very first – – and very affordable – – TV dinners featured turkey, dressing, gravy peas and potatoes!

5.   Which soda was NOT offered in Jones Soda’s 2004-limited edition Holiday pack?
Candied Yam Soda
There was no Candied Yam Soda in the mix, but Jones included a Fruitcake Soda.  Amazingly, the sodas sold out quickly.

6.   The skin that hangs over the turkey’s beak?
That strange flap, called a Snood, actually turns bright red when the turkey is upset during courtship.

7.   What character was honored with the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon in 1927?
Felix the Cat
Felix launched the tradition of the Parade’s enormous balloons.  In the early days they were let loose after the parade.  Prizes were given to anyone who returned them.
(At the conclusion of the parade, the giant balloons were released into the air. In 1929, Macy’s began offering a $50 reward for any returned balloons, which were affixed with return address labels.  In 1931, pilot Col. Clarence E. Chamberlain snagged a balloon with his airplane’s wing, leading to a ban on retrieval by airplanes the following year. But after the 1932 parade, another pilot attempted to capture a balloon and nearly crashed, leading Macy’s to discontinue releasing the balloons at the parade’s end)

Who’s thankful I didn’t lecture you on LinkedIn best practices today?