This is American Thanksgiving and we visit what's whacky as reported by the Huffington Post a few years ago.
Colored Turkeys at Gozzi’s Turkey Farms You can order your Thanksgiving bird from this Connecticut farm, but that’s not what visitors come to see. Every year around Thanksgiving, Gozzi’s dyes its live turkeys all shades of neon and gives kids a chance to feed them. Says a Yelper, “I thought pink, purple, green, and yellow turkeys were just in coloring books. But Gozzi’s got them.”
The Fifth Third Turkey Trot Well, it’s actually the 31st instalment of this Detroit footrace, named “Fifth Third” after the bank that founded it. The titles continue their wonkiness on race day: there’s the 10k Turkey Trot, 5k Stuffing Strut, and Mashed Potato Mile (completing more than one is a Drumstick Double). Don your craziest costume, and you might win the contest!
The Turkey Testicle Festival That’s right, the catchphrase at this 21-and-over bar fest is “hot nuts.” A thousand pounds of actual turkey yarbles will be served alongside pizza and beer at Parkside Pub in Huntley, Illinois on the eve of Thanksgiving. Catch some local bands and leave with a story to tell around the Thanksgiving table.
The Green Lake Gobble Seattle ends their Thanksgiving 5k with a hefty serving of side dish: in the Mashed Potato Much Off, the one to shovel the most potatoes in four minutes wins a pile of cash. You might also score prizes if you beat the runner who wears a turkey suitduring the race.
Here's our orange Poinsettia for the American Thanksgiving table.
Today I get to find out how Black Friday came about. I admit that I don't like the term associated with festive holidays. It sounds like a doomsday scenario. Harper's Weekly says its first use came from a gold market crash in 1869. There are lots of Black Fridays listed in Wikipedia here and they start in 1688 with the imprisonment of the Seven Bishops of the Church of England on the eve of the 'Glorious Revolution'. All of these Black Fridays refer to violence and scandal. So how has a shopping day taken on a label associated with violence, scandal and murder?
Supposedly the name came about because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence. It was first recorded in 1966 in a Philadelphia ad, when the Philadelphia police department used the phrase to describe the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrian and auto traffic in the centre of town.
The article says Black Friday became a positive name. I wonder about this, as the news focuses on mayhem and violence, wherever it occurs that day.
I did my shopping part yesterday. I went to the Niagara Outlet Mall - a big American-style mall on the QEW across from Niagara College (where I was going). And yes, there were the deep discount prices of Black Friday. Do you think it will be jammed today? Will you go shopping today for the special deals?
