American Essence

Americans Eat 1.4 Billion Pounds of Turkey Every Thanksgiving, and Other Fun Facts About the Beloved Holiday

Some facts and figures about how Americans and the White House embrace Thanksgiving traditions.
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Americans Eat 1.4 Billion Pounds of Turkey Every Thanksgiving, and Other Fun Facts About the Beloved Holiday
Ronald Reagan and the exonerated turkey. The White House Historical Association
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Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national tradition in 1863—and also pardoned “Jack the turkey” when his son, Tad, begged that his pet bird not become a Christmas meal.

Americans eat 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving. With an average weight of 30 pounds, that’s almost 1.4 billion pounds of turkey!

Andrew Benson Brown
Andrew Benson Brown
Author
Andrew Benson Brown is the Outreach Director for the Society of Classical Poets and the author of “Legends of Liberty,” an epic poem about the American Revolution.
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