84 Fun Facts About Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving is especially popular in which community, many of whose members have strained family ties?

Friendsgiving is especially popular among LGBTQ+ people, for whom family gatherings can be fraught; it also thrives in cities full of transplants who cannot easily get home for the holiday.

The Washington Post said Friendsgiving lets participants do what to the holiday?

The Washington Post wrote that Friendsgiving lets participants 'curate' the holiday: no inherited menu, no assigned seating, no relatives. The New York Times likewise called it more than a riff on Thanksgiving.

Friendsgiving is usually organised so that every guest brings a dish to share; what is that style of meal called?

A potluck spreads the cooking across the guests, which is why the host of a Friendsgiving rarely has to roast everything alone.

The word 'Friendsgiving' was officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in what year?

Merriam-Webster added the word in 2020, more than a decade after its first recorded use. Its own etymology note calls it a portmanteau of 'friends' and 'Thanksgiving'.

Merriam-Webster traces the first use of the word 'Friendsgiving' to what year?

Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of 'Friendsgiving' to 2007, in an online post about an informal meal; friends-only Thanksgivings had been happening for decades before the name existed.

What type of ad campaign helped bring 'Friendsgiving' into national prominence in 2011?

A 2011 Baileys Irish Cream liqueur advertisement campaign gave 'Friendsgiving' its first big national exposure; NPR later pointed to 2011 as the year the term hit it big.

For most celebrants, how does Friendsgiving relate to the family Thanksgiving meal?

For most people it is a second, separate gathering on top of the family meal, a shift from the early substitute version; a minority now skip the family dinner altogether.

Which bird did Benjamin Franklin call 'a much more respectable bird' than the bald eagle?

Benjamin Franklin praised the turkey in a 1784 letter to his daughter Sarah Bache, calling it 'a much more respectable bird' than the bald eagle, which he faulted for stealing fish from other birds.

Which 1973 animated special has been called 'perhaps an early example of Friendsgiving'?

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) centers on a meal of toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans that Charlie Brown serves his friends, making it a friends-only feast long before the word existed.

Because Friendsgiving guests are forgiving, some cooks use the meal as a chance to do what before the family holiday?

Test-drive new recipes on friends first, since pre-holiday Friendsgivings are a free-for-all while meals on Thanksgiving Day itself usually replicate the classic dinner.

Arlo Guthrie's 'Alice's Restaurant Massacree', a Thanksgiving-Day radio staple, runs roughly how long?

'Alice's Restaurant Massacree' runs about 18 minutes (18:34), filling the whole A-side of Arlo Guthrie's 1967 album; it recounts Thanksgiving 1965 with Alice and Ray Brock at their deconsecrated church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

What nickname did critics give FDR's 1939 Thanksgiving, moved a week earlier for Christmas shopping?

Critics dubbed the relocated holiday 'Franksgiving'. November 1939 had five Thursdays, the last falling on the 30th, which alarmed retailers; the change split the states, some keeping the old date, until Congress settled the matter.

Think-tank writer Michael Hendrix argued Friendsgiving grew partly out of which trend among millennials?

Think-tank writer Michael Hendrix tied Friendsgiving to millennials' delayed household formation, calling it 'a table set with lonely millennials practicing traditions of their choosing'; others read the same phenomenon more warmly.

Green bean casserole was created in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly while working for which food maker?

Dorcas Reilly created green bean casserole in 1955 in the Campbell's test kitchen in Camden, New Jersey, built around Campbell's cream of mushroom soup; it became a Thanksgiving fixture after the recipe was printed on the soup label.

In 'Alice's Restaurant', what Thanksgiving 1965 errand for Alice and Ray lands Arlo Guthrie in trouble?

The dump was closed, so he tipped the trash off a cliff and was arrested for littering. That conviction later kept him out of the Vietnam draft, which is the song's punchline.

The first Swanson TV Dinner in 1953 was modelled on which meal?

Swanson's first 1953 TV Dinner was turkey with cornbread stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes in a compartmented aluminium tray inspired by airline catering; it sold for 98 cents, and desserts were not added until 1960.

From which state did Horace Vose supply the president's Thanksgiving turkey for 41 years from 1873?

Horace Vose, a poultry dealer in Westerly, Rhode Island, sent the White House its Thanksgiving turkey from 1873 until his death in 1913; later the bird usually came from the home state of the National Turkey Federation's chairman.

Where did the Bidens host their Friendsgiving-style turkey dinner in 2022?

The presidential version came a decade after the term went mainstream. Presidents have also received an official Thanksgiving turkey every year since 1873.

In what year was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held?

The first Macy's parade was held in 1924, with live zoo animals instead of balloons; it has run every year since except 1942-1944, when rubber and helium went to the war effort.

In what year did General Foods introduce Stove Top stuffing?

General Foods introduced Stove Top in 1972, selling stuffing that cooked in minutes on the stovetop instead of inside the bird; Kraft, which later acquired the brand, reported selling about 60 million boxes each Thanksgiving.

Which 2 Broke Girls star appears with Malin Åkerman in Nicol Paone's 2020 comedy Friendsgiving?

Kat Dennings joined a cast including Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, Jane Seymour and Chelsea Peretti; critics were unkind, with a 19% Rotten Tomatoes score, and it landed on Netflix in January 2021.

Friendsgiving began as an alternative to the family Thanksgiving for which group, typically city transplants who could not get home?

Young adults far from home started it, most often in cities full of transplants for whom the trip back is logistically or emotionally hard; participation has broadened since.

Which NFL team has hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1945?

The Detroit Lions have hosted on Thanksgiving every year since 1945; owner George A. Richards began the tradition in 1934 to draw attention to his new team, and it paused only from 1939 to 1944.

Canada's Thanksgiving is held on which day each year?

Canadian Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday in October, a date Parliament fixed by proclamation in 1957 after decades of annual proclamations; it is a statutory holiday in most provinces but optional in the Atlantic provinces.

Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line for panicked November cooks launched in what year?

The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line launched in 1981, fielding about 11,000 calls in its first season; by the 2010s it handled more than 100,000 calls a season and hired its first male experts in 2013.

Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme is generally credited with introducing which three-bird holiday dish?

Turducken is a deboned chicken inside a deboned duck inside a deboned turkey; Paul Prudhomme, the New Orleans chef behind K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, trademarked the name in 1986, though Hebert's Specialty Meats of Maurice, Louisiana also claims it.

Besides friends, who else commonly throws a Friendsgiving as a potluck holiday party?

Coworkers commonly hold a Friendsgiving as an office potluck, keeping the bring-a-dish format; participants in the classic version are usually close friends who live in the same area.

At a typical 21st-century presidential turkey pardon, how many turkeys are presented?

Two turkeys are presented at a 21st-century ceremony: the National Thanksgiving Turkey and an alternate, kept in case the star bird becomes unavailable on the day; both are spared and live out their lives at a farm or park.

Giving Tuesday, charity's answer to Black Friday, falls how many days after Thanksgiving?

Giving Tuesday falls five days after Thanksgiving: after the Thursday feast come Black Friday, the weekend and Cyber Monday. Launched in 2012 by New York's 92nd Street Y, it is when many charities open their year-end appeals.

Defending Friendsgiving from its critics, Reason magazine called it 'cultural flourishing, not cultural' what?

Reason's 'cultural flourishing, not cultural decay' line answered critics who saw rot in the trend; The New York Times called it more than a riff on Thanksgiving, while one critic branded it ruling-class propaganda.

How long did the Pilgrims' 1621 harvest celebration, the mythologised first Thanksgiving, last?

Edward Winslow's account says the colonists and about ninety Wampanoag 'entertained and feasted' for three days. Seventeenth-century writers treated it as a harvest celebration; Plymouth's first civil day of thanksgiving came in 1623.

Which 1987 John Hughes Thanksgiving comedy starred Steve Martin and John Candy?

Planes, Trains and Automobiles pairs Martin's uptight ad executive with Candy's chatty shower-curtain-ring salesman; it opened on 25 November 1987 and grew into a holiday cult favourite.

In 'The One with All the Thanksgivings', which Friends character gets his head stuck in a raw turkey?

Joey put the raw turkey on his head in a 1992 flashback to scare Chandler and got it stuck; the same episode reveals Monica accidentally severed Chandler's toe, and ends with Chandler blurting out that he loves her.

Roughly what share of US cream of mushroom soup sales is thought to end up in green bean casserole?

Campbell's has estimated that about 40% of the cream of mushroom soup it sells in the US goes into green bean casserole, a dish it says appears at roughly 20 million American Thanksgiving dinners each year.

In the Friends Thanksgiving episode 'The One Where Ross Got High', Rachel's English trifle accidentally gets a layer of what?

Two cookbook pages stuck together, so the trifle got a layer of beef, peas and onions, making half of Rachel's dessert shepherd's pie; the friends pretend to like it, though one of them genuinely does.

Whose long campaign of editorials persuaded Abraham Lincoln to proclaim a national Thanksgiving in 1863?

Hale edited Godey's Lady's Book, the most widely read magazine in pre-war America, and lobbied several presidents before Lincoln acted after the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

Which president made the National Thanksgiving Turkey pardon a permanent tradition in 1989?

George H. W. Bush pardoned the turkey in November 1989, his first year in office, making the reprieve an annual ritual; the stories crediting Truman or Lincoln with the first pardon have no support in the presidential record.

Tofurky, the vegetarian holiday roast made by Turtle Island Foods, was introduced in what year?

Turtle Island Foods introduced the Tofurky roast in 1995, fifteen years after founder Seth Tibbott started the Oregon company making tempeh; the name blends 'tofu' and 'turkey' and sounds like a spoonerism of 'faux turkey'.

By 2013, which etiquette authority had begun fielding questions about how to behave at a Friendsgiving?

By 2013 the Emily Post Institute was answering questions about Friendsgiving etiquette; Google searches for the term were negligible before 2012 and climbed steeply from 2013 onward.

Critic Pete Wells argued in 2019 that Friendsgiving how-to guides existed because organisers lacked what?

Pete Wells, the New York Times restaurant critic, argued in 2019 that the guides existed because many organisers lacked hosting experience and were throwing their first large dinner party.

Congress fixed Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November in what year?

Congress passed a joint resolution in December 1941 fixing Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November, ending two years of confusion after FDR shifted the date; Lincoln's 1863 proclamation had used the last Thursday, which is sometimes the fifth.

Which Wampanoag sachem brought about ninety men to the Pilgrims' 1621 harvest feast?

Massasoit, the Wampanoag sachem who had made a treaty with Plymouth that spring, arrived with some ninety men; Edward Winslow's account says the Wampanoag contributed five deer to the three-day feast.

In Cheers' 'Thanksgiving Orphans', the gang's potluck degenerates into what?

The potluck ends in a food fight that director James Burrows shot twice, only partly choreographed; TV Guide ranked 'Thanksgiving Orphans' seventh on its 1997 list of the 100 greatest episodes.

In Cheers' 'Thanksgiving Orphans', Diane's thrown pumpkin pie hits whom in the face?

Vera, Norm's never-seen wife, walks in at exactly the wrong moment and takes the pie in the face, which keeps her face hidden; her one line in the scene sends Norm for his coat, and he answers, 'Yes, dear.'

In HIMYM's 'Slapsgiving', what song does Marshall sing after slapping Barney?

Marshall's song 'You Just Got Slapped' follows a slap that Lily, as Slap Bet Commissioner, had banned for the day until she relented with three seconds left on his countdown clock.

Lena Waithe's 'Thanksgiving' Emmy made her the first Black woman to win which category?

Waithe's 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, shared with Aziz Ansari, made her the first Black woman to win the category; the episode drew on her own coming-out story.

Who plays Denise's mother Catherine in Master of None's 'Thanksgiving' episode?

Angela Bassett plays Catherine, Denise's mother, in an episode that hops between Thanksgivings from 1995 to 2017 as Catherine slowly comes to accept her daughter's girlfriend Michelle.

In Buffy's 'Pangs', Buffy cooks Thanksgiving dinner for her friends at whose apartment?

Buffy cooks the meal at Giles's apartment, with a chained-up, starving Spike ending up at the table; Jane Espenson's 'Pangs' is one of the show's most debated episodes for its handling of the Chumash vengeance spirit.

In 'Bart vs. Thanksgiving', Bart accidentally destroys what Lisa made for the table?

Lisa's centerpiece, a tribute to women trailblazers, ends up in the fireplace; Bart runs away, sells his blood with Homer's ID, lands in a soup-kitchen line and finally apologises from the roof.

In Bob's Burgers' 'An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal', what does Bob name his turkey?

Left alone in Mr. Fischoeder's kitchen with a bottle of absinthe, Bob names the turkey Lance and treats the bird as his only friend at the party.

In Friends, what did Ross and Monica call their banned annual touch football game?

Their parents banned it after Monica broke Ross's nose during the sixth edition and their father threw the trophy in a lake.

What is the 'Geller Cup' trophy Ross and Monica fight over in 'The One with the Football'?

The Geller Cup is a troll doll nailed to a 2x4; Monica fished it out of the lake while Ross was at the emergency room, and the park scenes were shot indoors on a hastily built stage.

In 'The One with Rachel's Other Sister', who would get Emma if Ross and Rachel died?

Ross and Rachel had named Monica and Chandler as Emma's guardians; Amy, played by Christina Applegate, had assumed she'd get the baby, and the reveal sparks a sister fight that smashes Monica's wedding china.

In WKRP's turkey-drop episode, Mr. Carlson swears he thought turkeys could do what?

Mr. Carlson's closing line is 'As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly'; live birds were dropped from a helicopter over a mall, and Les Nessman's horrified play-by-play borrows 'Oh, the humanity!' from the Hindenburg broadcast.

Adam Sandler debuted 'The Thanksgiving Song' on SNL in a duet with which Update anchor?

Adam Sandler first performed 'The Thanksgiving Song' on Weekend Update in November 1992 with anchor Kevin Nealon chiming in; it appeared on his 1993 debut album They're All Gonna Laugh at You!

Ben Stiller co-produced the 2020 film Friendsgiving under which company banner?

Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films produced the movie with star Malin Akerman also producing; Nicol Paone wrote and directed it as her feature debut, and Saban Films released it in October 2020.

In the film Friendsgiving, Molly's estranged mother Helen arrives unannounced from where?

Jane Seymour plays Helen, Molly's Swedish mother, who flies in from Sweden unannounced and has also secretly invited Molly's ex-boyfriend Gunnar after keeping in touch with him on Facebook.

Pieces of April, about cooking Thanksgiving for estranged family, had roughly what budget?

Peter Hedges shot Pieces of April on digital video for about $300,000 in 16 days; it grossed over $3.2 million and earned Patricia Clarkson an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Who directed Home for the Holidays (1995), Holly Hunter's dysfunctional Thanksgiving?

Jodie Foster directed Home for the Holidays, her second feature after Little Man Tate; Robert Downey Jr. plays Holly Hunter's brother, and the cast includes Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning and a young Claire Danes.

Ang Lee's The Ice Storm unfolds over Thanksgiving weekend in which year?

Rick Moody's novel and Ang Lee's 1997 film are set over Thanksgiving weekend 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut, as two families drift into adultery and a 'key party' while an ice storm closes in.

In Eli Roth's 2023 slasher Thanksgiving, the killer wears a mask of which Plymouth figure?

The killings follow a deadly Black Friday riot at a Plymouth superstore; Carver was the first governor of Plymouth Colony.

Libby's canned pumpkin, the leading pie brand, is made solely from which variety?

Libby's grows its own Dickinson pumpkin, a tan, oblong Cucurbita moschata closer to a butternut squash than to orange jack-o'-lantern types, mostly around its Morton, Illinois cannery.

In Addams Family Values (1993), the summer camp's first-Thanksgiving play casts Wednesday as which historical figure?

Wednesday is cast as Pocahontas, refuses, is sent to the 'Harmony Hut' for forced viewing of wholesome TV, then leads the outcast campers in a revolt mid-play.

Miracle on 34th Street's parade scenes were shot live during which year's Macy's parade?

The crew filmed the real 1946 Macy's parade, with Edmund Gwenn riding as Santa on the final float; the film was released the following June, and Maureen O'Hara recalled they got only one take at each shot.

The first inflatable balloon in the Macy's parade, in 1927, was which cartoon character?

Felix the Cat led the 1927 parade as the first character balloon, filled with air and propped up on sticks, replacing the live Central Park Zoo animals of earlier parades; helium arrived in 1928.

What did Macy's do with its helium balloons at the end of the 1928 parade?

They were designed to leak slowly and drift down within a week, with a $100 reward for finders. The stunt ended in 1932 after a pilot nearly crashed.

Detroit's America's Thanksgiving Parade was launched in the 1920s by which store?

The J. L. Hudson Company started the parade in 1924 after display director Charles Wendel saw Toronto's Eaton's Santa Claus Parade; its Big Head Corps of papier-mache marchers is unique to Detroit.

The oldest US Thanksgiving parade, first held in 1920, was created by which store?

It survived the Depression and World War II and is now sponsored by Dunkin' and local station WPVI, after Gimbels closed in 1986.

NBC's post-parade Thanksgiving dog telecast was inspired by which 2000 film?

NBC executive Jon Miller pitched the National Dog Show after seeing Christopher Guest's mockumentary Best in Show (2000), betting viewers would root for their own breed, an 'alma mater effect'; it first aired after the parade in 2002.

The oldest documented turkey trot, first run in 1896, is held in which city?

Buffalo's YMCA Turkey Trot, first run in 1896, is the oldest continuously held footrace of its kind; it is an 8K rather than the 5K most turkey trots use, and it predates the Boston Marathon by a year.

Which city's police coined 'Black Friday' for the post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds?

Philadelphia police used 'Black Friday' by the early 1960s for the traffic and crowds before the Army-Navy game; local merchants hated the gloomy label, and a 1961 attempt to rebrand it 'Big Friday' went nowhere.

Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was created in 2010 by whom?

American Express launched Small Business Saturday on 27 November 2010 and holds it as a registered trademark; that first year it bought Facebook advertising credits and handed them to its small-merchant customers.

Who was the first president on record to 'pardon' the turkey presented to him?

Reagan floated the joke in 1987 to deflect questions about pardoning Oliver North over Iran-Contra; his birds had been going to farms since 1982.

Days before his assassination, JFK sent a 55-pound turkey back to the farm saying what?

Kennedy said 'We'll let this one grow' and sent the 55-pound bird, which wore a sign reading 'Good Eating, Mr. President', back to its farm on 19 November 1963; papers called it a pardon, though he never used the word.

What were the names of the pair of turkeys Barack Obama pardoned in 2014?

Mac and Cheese were the 2014 pair; Tater and Tot came in 2016, Peas and Carrots in 2018 and Bread and Butter in 2019. Mac died of suspected heatstroke the following July.

Which state's legislature named pecan pie its official state pie in 2013?

The Texas Legislature adopted pecan pie as the official state pie in 2013; the pecan tree had been the state tree since 1919, and the word 'pecan' comes from an Algonquian word for a nut needing a stone to crack.

What did the English call the wishbone in the 1600s, before 'wishbone' was coined?

The English called the bone a 'merrythought', recorded from around 1600; in some families the smaller piece won the wish. 'Wishbone' isn't recorded until 1860, and anatomists call it the furcula.

Whose name is on the 1975 patent for Stove Top stuffing?

Ruth Siems, a General Foods home economist, is the inventor named on the 1975 US patent for Stove Top's quick-cooking stuffing, whose bread crumbs were sized to rehydrate in minutes; Kraft later sold about 60 million boxes each Thanksgiving.

The word 'turkey' originally named which bird, imported to Europe via Turkey?

'Turkey' first referred to the guineafowl, which reached England through Ottoman (Turkish) merchants; colonists transferred the name to the superficially similar American bird, while the French named it after India, 'dinde' (d'Inde).

After Thomas Hunt kidnapped him in 1614, Squanto was sold into slavery in which country?

Hunt sold Squanto and other captives in Málaga, Spain, where local friars are said to have ransomed them; Squanto later reached England and sailed home with an expedition in 1619, finding his Patuxet village emptied by disease.

Which president, a deist sceptical of divine intervention, declared no thanksgiving days?

He set out his views in the 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists. Madison revived the practice in 1814 at the close of the War of 1812.

Lincoln's 1863 national Thanksgiving proclamation was actually written by whom?

It followed the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and set the date as the final Thursday of November 1863.

Whom did the Dallas Cowboys beat in their first Thanksgiving home game in 1966?

Dallas beat the Cleveland Browns 26-14 at the Cotton Bowl on 24 November 1966; team president Tex Schramm had volunteered to host for a guaranteed national TV game, and Dallas has been a fixture since 1978.

How many passengers sailed on the Mayflower when it anchored off Cape Cod in 1620?

The Mayflower carried 102 passengers plus a crew of about 30, after roughly 10 weeks at sea; the leaky Speedwell, meant to sail too, had been left behind in Plymouth, England.