Did You Know? 10 Facts about U.S. Holiday Traditions

  1. Approximately 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year. There are approximately 350 million Christmas trees currently growing on farms and they are grown in all 50 states and Canada.
  2. Each year at Thanksgiving, the President receives a gift of a live turkey. At a White House ceremony, the president “pardons” the National Thanksgiving Turkey, allowing it to live out the rest of its life on a farm.
  3. The largest Easter egg ever made was 25 feet high and weighed over 8,000 pounds. It was made of chocolate and marshmallow and supported by an internal steel frame.
  4. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1924.
  5. U.S. growers produce over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins each year. The top producing states are Illinois, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan. Pumpkins are native to Central America and Mexico but now grow on six continents.
  6. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third Presidents of the United States, both died on July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
  7. The first celebrated U.S. Labor Day was Tuesday, September 6, 1882 in New York City. At this celebration, 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to 42nd Street and then met with their families in Wendel’s Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches.
  8. About 4% of all the candy consumed in the United States occurs on a single day – Halloween.
  9. In 1906, “O Holy Night” became the second song to ever be broadcast on the radio.
  10. The top three places to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the United States are New York City, Las Vegas and Disney World.