Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Thanksgiving

While you're preparing, eating or sleeping off your Thanksgiving meal, ponder these bizarre Thanksgiving facts

—M.J. Stephey

T-Day on a Tray

Envision / Corbis
  • Print

In 1953, someone at Swanson severely overestimated the amount of turkey Americans would consume that Thanksgiving. With 260 tons of frozen birds to get rid of, a company salesman named Gerry Thomas ordered 5,000 aluminum trays, recruited an assembly line of women armed with spatulas and ice-cream scoops and began creating mini-feasts of turkey, corn-bread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes — creating the first-ever TV dinner. Thomas later said he got the idea from neatly packaged airplane food.

View the full list for "Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Thanksgiving"