Beech Tree News Network

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I figured I’d do a little Thanksgiving/fall trivia. Several weeks ago, my church had a fall fellowship and one of the games was fall trivia. Here is some of the trivia.

A male turkey is called a gobbler. A female turkey is called a hen. A young female turkey is called a Jake. A baby turkey is called a poult. The ancient Egyptians were the first group of people on record to use scarecrows, which they employed to protect their

wheat fields along the Nile River from birds, particularly quail. Their original scarecrows were not humanoid figures, but rather wooden frames covered with nets to  trap birds, a method that also provided dinner.

The science of growing apples is called pomology. A bushel of apples makes 21 pies. Fall was originally called harvest. Fall comes from the phrase “the fall of leaves”. The official word for the sound of leaves and trees rustling in the wind is psithurism,

susurrus and susurration. Psithurism is a rare literary term from the Greek that means whispering. Susurrus describes the sound of a steady, gentle wind. Susurration is often used to describe the rustling of leaves. The fall corn moon is seen in September. The

Autumnal Equinox marks the official start of the fall season in the northern hemisphere.

This is the day that both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of Earth receive nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Why is turkey and dressing synonymous with Thanksgiving? Wild turkeys are abundant in the areas settled by early colonists. They were large enough to feed a large family or gathering. Unlike chickens or cows, turkeys served a more exclusive purpose for meat, making them more suitable for a special feast.

Thanksgiving became a permanent federal holiday on December 26, 1941 when Congress passed a joint resolution officially establishing it as the fourth Thursday of November. Before this, President Abraham Lincoln had declared it a national holiday in 1863, and subsequent presidents issued annual proclamations.

Writer and editor Sarah Josepha Hale popularized turkey for Thanksgiving through her book Northwood and her campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. While the Pilgrims likely ate turkey at their first feast, Hale established the roast turkey as the centerpiece of the meal in the public imagration, and President Lincoln declared the holiday in 1863.

Dressing(south) or stuffing(north) was a way to use stale bread and was cooked inside the turkey to absorb its juices, adding flavor. The practice of stuffing meat with other ingredients is ancient, dating back to Roman times when it was called “farce”. As Thanksgiving grew into a widespread custom throughout the 19 th century, stuffing became a more popular and versatile dish, sometimes served as a side dish rather than in the turkey itself.

I hope everyone has/had a wonderful Thanksgiving!