Settlers of the Plymouth Colony and their Wampanoag tribe predecessors kicked off a grand tradition way back in 1621, according to WalletHub.com. But the Thanksgiving we celebrate is a lot different than that first festival in honor of a particularly bountiful harvest.
“Sure, we still eat turkey, potatoes and pumpkin,” according to WalletHub. “And we continue to use the occasion to reflect on the things we cherish most, such as friends and family. But a pair of additional F’s – football and Friday – has become just as important to some.”
The NFL’s Thanksgiving games earned more than 53 million combined viewers last year, and Americans spent more than $5.1 billion on Black Friday shopping – on top of the billions we spent preparing for Thanksgiving itself.
“So if it isn’t tryptophan that puts you to sleep this Thanksgiving, it might be 12 hours of pigskin or an early wake-up call for a day of deal hunting,” according to WalletHub.
With consumers having spent around $312 per person in the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday last year, WalletHub released its 2021’s Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving report. WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 20 key metrics. They range from the cost of Thanksgiving dinner and share of delayed flights to volunteer opportunities per capita and forecasted precipitation. Tulsa was No. 58.
Top 20 Cities for Thanksgiving
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Orlando, Florida
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Miami, Florida
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Tampa, Florida
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Louisville, KY
- Gilbert, Arizona
- Durham, North Carolina
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- San Jose, California
- Oakland, California
- Chandler, Arizona
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Washington, D.C.
- Irving, Texas
Some Thanksgiving facts:
- $312 – Average person’s spending over the five-day Thanksgiving period.
- Hrs. 2 Mins. – Length of time the average American male would need to spend on the treadmill to burn the 4,500 calories consumed at the average Thanksgiving meal.
- $604+ Million – Estimated amount Americans spend on Thanksgiving turkeys each year, with 46 million turkeys killed.
- $26 Million – Amount of property loss caused by residential building fires each Thanksgiving.
- 65% – Share of Americans who expect COVID-19 to impact their Thanksgiving celebrations this year (only 15% expect the impact to be significant).
- 1621 was the year of the first Thanksgiving.
- On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday.
- 1989 was the first year a president (George W. Bush) officially pardoned a turkey.
- Four U.S. towns are named Turkey (in Arizona, Texas, Louisianan and North Carolina).
- 8.1 billion calories are consumed by Americans every year.
- 10% of Americans get takeout or have a meal catered.
- The average cost of a 10-person Thanksgiving dinner is $46.90.
- There are an estimated 46 million turkeys killed for Thanksgiving every year.
- Butterball Turkey answers more than 100,000-plus questions on their hotline every November and December.
- The most popular dishes are turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (dressing), rolls, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.
- 88% of Americans will have turkey for Thanksgiving.
- 96% of Americans say they will celebrate Thanksgiving.
- $18.35 is the average cost of a 16-pound turkey at Thanksgiving
For more information, visit: wallethub.com.