THANKSGIVING DRINKING GAME—For the majority of us who have grown up in the United States and Canada, we've spent many Novembers partaking in the annual Thanksgiving holiday festivities. We've traced our hands to draw turkeys and used our hands to stuff turkeys.
We've reenacted the original 1621 Thanksgiving festival and spent days in the kitchen preparing for our families to come stuff themselves silly. As far as many of us are concerned, when it comes to Thanksgiving, we know how the story goes. Or at least, we've boiled the story down to something this: the pilgrims colonized, the pilgrims and the Native Americans had a large feast consisting of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, and the feast turned into an annual American holiday. Right? WRONG!
Before we give you the auctioneers version of how Thanksgiving became an annual national holiday, we'd encourage you to grab your favorite holiday spirit, whether it be some new age pumpkin flavored vodka or your best seasonal pumpkin ale. Now, with your drink in hand, get ready to play the best Thanksgiving drinking game. Rules: take a drink every time you didn't know one of these facts.
Fact 1
The first Thanksgiving in 1621 was a three-day festival (hunting, eating, merriment, entertainment) to celebrate the pilgrims first successful harvest. The Native Americans brought five dead dear as gifts.
Fact 2
The pilgrims themselves never repeated this holiday because Thanksgiving wasn't intended to be a tradition.
Fact 3
Contrary to popular belief, the menu for the first Thanksgiving feast included deer, but not turkey. Furthermore, there were no (mashed) potatoes or pumpkin (pie) as neither of these foods had yet to be introduced to New England. Oh and cranberries were probably eaten whole (not as a sauce or relish).
Fact 4
In 1789, George Washington was the first one to introduce Thanksgiving as a national holiday—it fell on Thursday, November 26th. However, even after Washington introduced Thanksgiving as a national holiday it didn't become an annual tradition nation wide until 19th century.
Fact 5
Sarah Josepha Hale (the writer of Mary Had a Little Lamb) is known as the Godmother of Thanksgiving. She was inspired to recreate the first Thanksgiving feast after reading a diary of pilgrim life. She campaigned for 30 years to turn Thanksgiving into a celebrated national holiday.
Fact 6
Hale is the reason we eat the foods we do on Thanksgiving. She published recipes for turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.
Fact 7
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln decided that American's would celebrate this holiday on the final Thursday in November every year.
Fact 8
In 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved the holiday up to the third Thursday in November. No one was happy with his decision so two years later he signed a bill to move Thanksgiving back to the fourth Thursday of every November.
Fact 9
You could win your family's first annual Best Thanksgiving Socks award this year, if you show up wearing an aptly themed pair of Thanksgiving Socks. Please see our Best Thanksgiving Socks post for guaranteed success.
And.... the Thanksgiving drinking game is over! If you knew even three of these facts, then give yourself a gold star or a pat on the back because we can't do it for you. Well done! Now go and spread this information with everyone around. Hopefully your night will be fun, filling, and filled with fun Thanksgiving socks!