…pass me another slice of pumpkin pie, hon, its Thanksgiving here in America.
Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Weir a copy is also located in the, United States Capitol rotunda, Washington, DC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There are lots of myths about Thanksgiving… like…
… the first Thanksgiving in America took place at Plymouth Colony in 1621. … Actually, there were Spanish and French celebrations of Thanksgiving in the New World long before the Pilgrim’s 1621 feast. In 1565 Pedro Menendez de Aviles celebrated a mass of thanksgiving with native Americans near what is now St. Augustine Florida.
Turkey Dinner (Photo credit: LonelyBob)
…the tryptophan in the turkey makes you want to curl up and take a nap after the big meal … While turkey does contain L-tryptophan, you’d have to eat it on an empty stomach (and with out sides) before you got drowsy.
…Other foods contain as much or more tryptophan than turkey, … including chicken, … pork, and cheese. [About.com]
…The Pilgrims wore black and had buckles on their hats… If you were rich in the 17th century you could afford to wear black, but the Pilgrims? Not so much. They wore brown, green, beige, violet, gray, white, dark red and dark blue. And the buckle? That’s a 19th century artistic creation.
Thanksgiving Pilgrim Hat Polymer Clay Magnet (Photo credit: Jennie Ivins)
…Thanksgiving is an American tradition, and it has been celebrated every year since 1621… Nope. Although “National days of thanksgiving were held sporadically through the 18th century” [education.com] the traditional date of the last Thursday in November wasn’t established until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln made it a federal holiday. Even then the date was played with to boost the Christmas shopping season between 1939 and 1940. But by 1941 it was firmly planted on the fourth Thursday of November.
![[Image courtesy: http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/interactives/thanksgiving-by-the-numbers]](https://ritalovestowrite.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/history-thanksgiving-final.png)
[Image courtesy: History.com ]
…The original Thanksgiving took place in November, that’s why we celebrate it on the 4th Thursday of November now. … Actually the 1621 feast took place sometime between September 21 and November 11 and was three days long.
Having busted your Thanksgiving bubble… I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Now bring me some figgy pudding.
ritaLOVEStoWRITE 
November 30th, 2013 at 3:55 am
I didn’t really believe the tryptophan thing until I drove the same 5 hour trip twice.Once with a turkey sandwich after about 3.5 hours and one without (eben though I had had a glass of wine with my meal) I was so dozey when I reached the end of the turkey drive (midday) and the other trip which ended at 10pm I was wide awake all the way.
I really must remember – turkey to break a spell of insomnia
November 30th, 2013 at 4:28 am
I wonder if it effects different people differently. I’ve never felt tired after eating turkey. Hmmm we should experiment. (Hint: any excuse to eat turkey is a fine with me.) 🙂
November 30th, 2013 at 4:54 am
and I know a glass of milk makes me go to sleep and stay asleep