It really is unimpeachable. The holidays are here. Turkey. Football. Family. Santa Claus. Whoa! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s get through Thanksgiving. This week we are not talking accounting, not even talking tax. Welcome to this week’s blog: Don’t Talk Trump, Let’s Talk Turkey II. Trivia for your Thanksgiving Day. And if you need to flip any, 
“Oh no, here we go” conversations we have included several table discussion topics to help you steer clear.
1. What meat did Native Americans bring to the First Thanksgiving? ANSWER – Venison.
2. What state grows the most turkeys? ANSWER – Minnesota.
3. What is the average lifespan of a wild turkey? ANSWER – 3 to 5 years.
NOT a suggested table discussion: How old was the turkey on your dinner plate.
4. The average turkey has how many feathers? ANSWER – 5,000 to 6,000.
5. Where do the feathers go? ANSWER – To the farm and to the zoo. Turkey feathers are ground up and used as protein for cattle, sheep, goats and giraffes.
6. In what year or at least what decade did Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and America’s Thanksgiving Parade start? ANSWER – 1924. Did you know back in the 20’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was in Newark, NJ and we pretty much ripped off the America’s Thanksgiving Parade from the Canadians. Giving credit where credit is due. The Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade first marched in Toronto, back in 1905.
7. Which President was the first to officially give a turkey a presidential pardon? ANSWER – The first unofficial pardon was given by JFK in 1963. But it was Ronald Reagan, in 1987, who first officially pardoned a turkey, as a joke. The turkey trotted off to a petting zoo and in 1989 Bush SR made it an annual tradition. Truly, non-partisan politics at its best!
8. Just like some folks have wattles under their chins, so do turkeys, under their beaks. But what’s the wattle above the beak called? ANSWER – Snood.
NOT a suggested table discussion: Who at the table has the biggest wattle?
Suggested table discussion: Who, not at the table, has the biggest wattle?
9. Who invented that green bean casserole that Grandma makes every Thanksgiving? ANSWER – Dorcas Reilly in 1955. And Dorcas worked…… at the Campbell Soup Company. Cream of Mushroom soup had been invented some 20 years earlier and people used it a casserole filler. Rest in Power Dorcas, who passed away at the age of 92 last October.
Suggested table discussion: What is everyone’s favorite Campbell Soup?
10. Where did the cornucopia come from? ANSWER – There’s a couple of different rumors or legends in Greek mythology about the horn of plenty. One is Zeus’ mom after giving birth to him gave him to some nymph-nannies to take care of. They in turn hired a wet-
nurse goat named Amalthea whose milk helped Zeus grow up to be the head honcho of Pagan Greece; King of Mount Olympus, God of Thunder and all that. When Zeus became boss, he put one horn in the heavens and filled the other horn with the magic of perpetually becoming filled with whatever sustenance the possessor of the horn might want and gave the horn to his nymph-nannies.
Another story is Zeus’ kid, one of them, he had like 92; Hercules got into a fight with the guy that was the River God. Of course, it was over a woman, not just any woman but the daughter of the God Dionysius. The River God guy shapeshifted into a bull. Heracles kicked his butt, tore off a horn, gave it to some water nymphs who filled it with flowers. The Goddess of Plenty liked the flower-filled horn and then made the horn her own and called it… Cornucopia.
Suggested table discussion: What would you fill the cornucopia with?
11. Who won the National Dog Show best in Show last year?
Whiskey, the Whippet.
Suggested table discussion: What is everyone’s favorite breed? Or less boring, who do you know that looks like their dog?
BONUS ROUND.
Wild Turkey is a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. How did it get its name? ANSWER – Thomas McCarthy, a hunter and an executive for Austin Nichols (a bourbon wholesaler), used to go hunting for wild turkeys with his friends every year. In 1940, he liberated some samples from the warehouse for the trip. The following year his friends were like you better bring some more of that wild turkey bourbon. He did and in 1942 Austin Nichols started bottling Wild Turkey.
Suggested table discussion: How do you like to liquor up your eggnog?
Have A Blessed and Bountiful Thanksgiving.
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Check back here next week when we tackle yet another taxing topic. If there is anything you would like to know more about, leave a comment and we’ll blog it. And be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter; for whatever it is we’ll be posting.
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Our blog is intended for educational and awareness purposes. The general information provided about taxes, accounting, and business-related topics is by no means intended to provide or constitute professional advice. Reading our blog does not create a Client/CPA relationship between you and us. The blog, including all contents posted by the author(s) as well as comments posted by visitors, should not be used as a substitute for professional advice or as a substitute for communicating with a competent, human professional.
Our blog posts are written using current information and current or proposed rules and regulations. Information becomes old and outdated. Rules and regulations are frequently changed, added, amended, and/or left to expire. This is extremely true with most things tax and to a lesser and slower extent, most things accounting. We do not go back and update posted blogs. Always check with your CPA or accountant regarding not only rules and regulations but available options and how it all applies to your fact pattern and you.
