| 11/26/18 It’s not easy keeping peace at the Thanksgiving table. You don’t want to be refereeing an argument between your survivalist cousin who only hikes in from the backwoods once a year and your snowflake son who is quitting college to join a group committed to insuring that all bathrooms in American convents are gender neutral. Thus, once again as a public service I am providing useless factoids for the Thanksgiving table to keep the discussions uncontroversial. I will refrain from depressing tidbits such as the estimated number of marathons you need to run in order to work off one slice of pecan pie. Thanksgiving Trivia: • The 736 million pounds of turkey that Americans eat on Thanksgiving approximates the weight of the Empire State Building. • If you are feeling sluggish after finally pushing away from the table don’t blame the turkey. The tryptophan doesn’t really have an effect because it is countered by all the other amino acids contained in the meal. If you’re tired, it’s likely from all the preparation, socializing, and adult beverages • 40 million green bean casseroles are consumed on Thanksgiving. • If you are a novice to cooking turkey feel free to call the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line (1-800-BUTTERBALL). The service originated 30 years ago with six home economists fielding questions from over 10,000 panicked home chefs. This Thanksgiving, 50 home economists and nutritionists will answer more than 100,000 calls. Much more Thanksgiving trivia can be found on last year’s blog https://blackdotmessaging.com/happy-thanksgiving-from-black-dot-messaging/ Additional Food Morsels • The average person in the U.S. (yes, that would be you) eats 35 tons of food in a lifetime- that’s 1500 pounds per year. • Honey is the only food that will never rot (I would have guessed Twinkies). • Grape growing is the largest food industry in the world • There are more than 60 species and 8000 varieties of grapes. • There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples • There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes • Two-thirds of the world’s eggplant is grown in New Jersey • Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking • Lachanophobia is the fear of vegetables • Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. • The tea bag was not introduced until 1908 when it was accidently invented by Thomas Sullivan in New York City. Efficiency-minded Americans quickly adopted the tea-bag but it did not become popular in Britain until the 1950s. • In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket • SPAM is short for spiced ham • Peanuts are an ingredient in dynamite (They contain glycerol, an ingredient in nitroglycerin). • There are over 87,000 drink combinations at Starbucks • The first fruit to be eaten on the moon was a canned peach. • If you put a can of Diet Coke in water, it will float but regular Coke will sink. Since the drinks’ formulas are a trade secret, we can only speculate that sugar causes the regular Coke to sink. • Speaking of weight, the most nutritiously dense vegetable is probably not making an appearance at your Thanksgiving dinner. One cup of raw kale has only 33 calories, yet it contains 684% of vitamin K, 134% of vitamin C, 206% of Vitamin A and two grams of protein. • The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher. • The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing their hands in jelly. And Finally, The ever popular, “Flamin Hot Cheetos” were invented by Richard Montanez, a Mexican janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Montanez worked on the recipe at home, called Frito Lay’s president with the idea and bought his first tie for his presentation to the executive team. Montanez who never attended high school is now an Executive Vice President with the company. He credits his success to his Ph.D – poor, hungry and determined. Happy Thanksgiving. If you are looking for top-notch marketing support, contact ted@blackdotmessaging.com . |
Happy Thanksgiving 2018