Thanksgiving Number.

Cranberry.—The American English word “cranberry” is a corruption of a Massachusett word meaning wouldn’t eat that on a dare.

Gravy.—The Puritans prohibited gravy and all other condiments as pomps of the devil, but a loophole in the laws of the Plymouth colony allowed Christians to consume gravy if it was made by a pagan savage. This was the Pilgrims’ primary motivation for inviting the Indians to dinner. The secondary motivation was that the Indians brought the dinner.

Pumpkin.—The modern pumpkin is the result of centuries of selective breeding with the goal of producing a long-keeping pie-filling storage unit.

Sweet Potatoes.—Potatoes are naturally sweet; the bland white potatoes familiar on our tables today were bred by the English to instill docility in their Irish subjects.

Turkey.—In the wild, stuffing or dressing is the natural food of turkeys, but they lose the hunting instinct when domesticated.