Americans Think About Strange Stuff at Thanksgiving

Millions of Americans are getting ready for Thanksgiving, but a new Google Maps project shows they’re not necessarily thinking about turkey and stuffing.

Google Maps looked at the most popular Thanksgiving Day searches over the past few years and found that many Americans are likely to skip cooking up a large feast on the big day. Across the country, “buffet restaurants” was the most-searched term on Thanksgiving.

The first joint Thanksgiving as envisioned by artist Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1850-1936), “The First Thanksgiving” (1914), oil on canvas, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Twitter looked at the most tweeted-about dishes in the days ahead of Thanksgiving and found that turkey, stuffing, potatoes and casseroles lead the list.

According to Google Map’s findings, though, people in different cities had diverse priorities. In Houston, “doughnut shops” trended on Thanksgiving, while bars were tops in Chicago. Folks in Miami were all about looking good since ”beauty salons” were among the trending searches there.

In the United States, Thanksgiving commemorates a 3-day feast held in 1621, when the pilgrims — some of the first English settlers in America — celebrated a bountiful harvest alongside Native Americans — the land’s indigenous people. That event was probably the nation’s first Thanksgiving.

It became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving.

Later, President Franklin Roosevelt decided that Thanksgiving should be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November to encourage earlier holiday shopping.

Speaking of holiday shopping, the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, a time when the nation’s retailers offer deep discounts to kick off the Christmas buying season. But not everyone is thinking about getting a jump-start on buying presents.

In New York, people apparently want to mark the day by getting a tattoo, while Los Angeles residents look for the nearest hookah bar.

(Graphic courtesy of Google)

Thanksgiving is normally one of the busiest holiday travel periods of the year, a time when most American families make an effort to join together with loved ones. Almost 47 million people are expected travel at least 50 miles away from home for the holiday and the vast majority of them — 42 million — will get there by car.

When they arrive, they’re likely to enjoy a sumptuous feast with family and friends. They might also pause at some point during the day to take a moment and reflect on all they have to be grateful for this year.