Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving day, the parade, the food and the turkey.

Thanksgiving day is America's annual feast of travel and gluttony, here's this year's score; 45 million turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving this year, that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the US each year. The american per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 lbs. (3.76 kg) in 1975 to 13.8 lbs. (6.25 kg) in 2007.
As if this wasn't enough to scare you, how about trains, planes and automobiles? Thanksgiving will see 43.4 million people traveling in one way or another, 38.9 million or 90% of those will take the car and 3.14 million the plane, whereas the average travel distance will be 601 miles (967 km).
Tired already ?

illustration of thanksgiving day parade for the new yorker magazine by arthur getz   illustration of the snoopy ballooon at macy's thanksgiving day parade by robert wagt
illustration by William Steig of a family together at a  thanksgiving day dinner illustration of animals at a thanksgiving day turkey dinner by Donald Chaffin
illustration of animals at a thanksgiving day dinner by Hans Fischer
illustration of the thanksgiving day parade by William Joyce for the New Yorker magazine

Cold turkey, clockwise from top left ; Arthur Getz's New Yorker cover of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, my own take on the same subject, Martin's children waiting for the parade and Donald Chaffin's animal feast, a vintage illustration of the american turkey, a New Yorker cover by William Joyce, an animal gluttony feast by Hans Fischer, the pilgrims and the turkeys by Kathy Osborn, William Steig and the inevitable  Saul Steinberg's Picasso inspired Thanksgiving cover.

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