Just because they’re not counting noses in 2005 for the once-every-10-years tally doesn’t mean the U.S. Bureau of the Census isn’t thinking of you. Here are some fascinating Thanksgiving facts they offer for your use when table talk around the turkey begins to pale:
– Do we import turkeys? Yes we do — $5.2 million worth, and every one of them from Canada. We also import some cranberries from our northern neighbors and sweet potatoes from the Dominican Republic. The home-grown turkey far outweighs the imports, 7.2 billion pounds worth last year.
– How many pounds of turkey did a typical American eat in 2003 (the most recent year for which figures are available)? We gobbled 13.7 pounds each and washed it down with 4.7 pounds of sweet potatoes.
– In what Thanksgiving product is Illinois the leading producer? The Land of Lincoln is the leading pumpkin-producer with 457 million pounds. Wisconsin looks to be the leader in cranberries this year with 367 million pounds. North Carolina is tops in sweet potatoes with 688 million pounds. And Minnesota, with 44.5 million birds, will be 2005’s turkey champ.
– Here’s a stumper. What is the largest U.S. city named Turkey? That honor belongs to the 496 residents of Turkey, Texas.
– Are there places named Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock, landing place of the Pilgrims who joined with the indigenous populace for the first Thanksgiving in 1621? Indeed there are, 20 of them, the largest of them NOT being Plymouth Mass., (pop. 54,604) as you might think, but Plymouth Minn., (pop. 69,797). There are eight places and townships called cranberry or cranbury and one township named pilgrim. There’s no place called stuffing.