"About 46 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day," said Sherrie Rosen Blatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation(Fredrix).As Thanksgiving nears an end, I hope that all of you had a happy Turkey Day. The intent of this blog is to enlighten you on a couple of well known superstitions about Thanksgiving.
Probably the biggest Thanksgiving tradition is pulling the wishbone. The superstition goes that two people hold the wishbone of the turkey with two fingers and pull. Whoever gets the larger end of the bone will have their wish granted.
Ok, where is the wishbone locate? The wishbone, also called the Merrythought, can be found in the front of a breastbone of foul such as ducks, chicken and turkey. It is a "forked bone...consisting chiefly of the two clavicles fused at their median or lower end (Merriam-Webster)."
Here is how it works. Once the turkey has been cooked to perfection, sliced and diced to dine, and the remains discarded, one should set the wishbone out to dry. Once dried, two people grab the ends of the bone at it's lowest point with two fingers. They both pull in opposite directions until the bone breaks. Whoever gets the larger end of the bone will have their wish granted. The winner is not to tell anyone what he/she wished for, or else it will not come true.
According to Jane Marie, this tradition dates back 2,400 years during the times of the Etruscans. These Italian dwellers believed that fowl were fortune tellers and sacred. They would set the bone out to dry, and anyone was allowed to come stroke the bone and make a wish, giving it its nickname. Once the Romans conquered the Etruscans, they assimiliated this custom of good fortune. Unlike the Etruscans, the Romans would fight over the bone, often times breaking it.
It is said that the phrases "I need a lucky break" or "I never get a break" come from being the loser in this tug of bone contest. The English heard of this superstition from the Romans and called their wishbones merrythoughts after the merry or happy wishes that most people desired. When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in the New World, they brought along the custom of breaking the wishbone. When they discovered the northeastern woods of North America were filled with turkeys, they changed their custom from the chicken bone to the turkey bone (Marie)."Just some "food" for thought!
So, if you haven't already thrown away your turkey, here are a couple of ways that you can win the wishbone pull. Again, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Christmas is only 28 days away.
Works Cited:
Fredrix, Emily. "Consumers to win '08 wishbone pull." Denver Post 14 Nov 2008 27 Nov 2008 http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10989420.
Maria, Jane. "Wishing on a Wishbone." greenlightwrite.com. 2008. 27 Nov 2008 http://www.greenlightwrite.com/wishbone.htm.
"wishbone." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.
Merriam-Webster Online. 27 November 2008
Merriam-Webster Online. 27 November 2008
6 comments:
I liked this post on the Wishbone! I have been able to pull the Wishbone every Thanksgiving except for yesterday (we went to a friends house). So maybe next Thanksgiving I should eat a Turdukin (I'm not sure how to spell this)then I am guarnteed to get 3 Wishbones!
I liked your blog on Thanksgiving and the wishbone traditional. I think it is very interesting that people have ben passing along this tradition since 24,00years back. I think every culture has some thing unique in their culture that makes the holiday even better and fun. Thank you so much for great information on wishbone tradition.
I hope besides the wishbone you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and delicious food.
Nausheen
Nice and timely post. Unfortunately, I still can't bring myself to eat turkey (and I bet 50% of that is because of the now infamous Sarah Palin turkey-pardoning video).
Your research and writing here are just excellent. I think blogging really suits you!
To each his own Julie P. Me personally, I am not a huge turkey fan myself, but I make an exception during Thanksgiving. By the way, I saw that video you were talking about, and I must say, "Thank you America for not voting her into the Oval Office!" Thanks for the compliment!
Hey Fed,
I like your post on wishbone, but I do not believe in luck, I believe in God.
Thanks,
And to each his/her own Kathy. I to am a firm believer in God, but I do from time to time saying, "Wish me luck", or telling someone "Good Luck", or just saying, "I have nothing but bad luck". You should take the quiz on this website (also seen on my blog about Control your Life). I would be interested to see what you score, and don't forget to record your results on the side bar poll.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_90.htm
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