On the fourth Thursday in November, families from near and far gather to spend the day together eating, drinking and celebrating what they are thankful for. In addition to your expanding waistline, something else you will see an increase of during the holiday is your social media use. With such a busy day for social media usage, you will want your post to stand out from the rest. There is no better way than choosing the perfect Thanksgiving puns for your Instagram caption.
What Is Thanksgiving?
Turns out, besides providing a wide variety of Thanksgiving puns for us all to enjoy, this national holiday has a long and celebrated history.
Settling in Plymouth
The story of Thanksgiving starts when a ship called the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England in September 1690. The ship was carrying 102 passengers all seeking a home in the new world where they could freely practice their religion without fear of persecution.
After a 66 day voyage, they arrived at the tip of Cape Cod, which was far north of their original destination, the Hudson River. A month later, they crossed the bay and started a village known as Plymouth.
The first winter in Plymouth was brutal. After suffering from exposure, scurvy, and outbreaks of contagious diseases, only half of the settlers survived to see the spring. In March, the survivors were able to leave the Mayflower and move ashore.
The settlers received a visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, the Abenaki Indian returned with Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe. Squanto had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery. He was able to escape to London and return to his homeland on an exploratory expedition.
Squanto taught the Pilgrims, who had all been weakened by malnutrition and illness over the long winter, how to survive in their new home. He taught them how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the river and avoid poisonous plants. In addition to these survival skills, Squanto introduced them to a local tribe called the Wampanoag and helped them form an alliance. This alliance between the settled and the Wampanoag tribe was reported to have lasted for more than 50 years and is often cited as the sole example of harmony between Native Americans and European colonists.
The First Thanksgiving
Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast in November 1691 after their first corn harvest was a success. They invited the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, and other native American allies to join them for the feast.
This feast is known as the first Thanksgiving.
While there is no record of the exact menu of the feast, historians believe there were many Native American dishes using traditional spices and cooking methods. Lobster, seal, and swans are theorized to have also been on the table.
It is important to note, that since the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled during the fall of 1691, there were no pies, cakes or other desserts. Even though these are trademarks of a modern Thanksgiving meal.
Thanksgiving Becomes an Official Holiday
The second Thanksgiving was held in 1693 after a long drought threatened their harvest and prompted the governor to call for a religious fast. The process of fasting, then feasting, was becoming more common throughout other New England settlements around this time as well.
During the American Revolution, one or more days of thanksgiving a year were designated by the Continental Congress. In 1798, George Washington issues the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government. He called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the conclusion of the war, their independence, and the successful ratification of the U.S Constitution. John Adams and James Madison also issued days of thanks during their presidencies.
In 1817, New York became the first state to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving; it was celebrated on a different day every year.
In 1827, the famous writer Sarah Josepha Hale, whose work you may be familiar with as she wrote the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb” created a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. She published numerous editorials and sent letters to governors, senators, and presidents over the course of 36 years.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request. In the midst of the Civil war, he issued a proclamation that entreated all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”
President Lincoln ordered Thanksgiving be held on the final Thursday of November. It was celebrated this way until 1939 when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week. This was done to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Known by many as “Franksgiving,” the move was met with opposition. In 1941, he signed a bill to officially make Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.
A Family Affair
In many American households, Thanksgiving is celebrated with their extended family. That celebration, however, looks quite different from the original feast.
How Modern Thanksgiving Differs From the First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving centers around cooking and sharing a hearty meal with family and friends; there is little to no religious significance anymore.
Turkeys are typically the center of any Thanksgiving meal; nearly 90 percent of all Americans eat turkey on this national holiday. It can be roasted, baked or even deep fried. While historians cannot be completely sure, they are confident that it was unlikely that a turkey graced the table of the first Thanksgiving.
In addition to the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pies of all varieties are commonly consumed (often in excess). The first Thanksgiving featured Native American dishes using traditional spices and cooking methods as well as lobster, seal, and swans. There were no sweet treats.
How Families Celebrate
Since the holiday has lost all of its religious significance, families across the country celebrate togetherness in different ways.
A common Thanksgiving tradition is watching parades. Macy’s has been presenting the largest parade since 1924. It attracts two to three million spectators along its 2.5-mile route. In addition to those watching in person, the number of people watching on live television is even larger. Marching bands, floats, balloons, performers and celebrities are out in force during the parade.
There are a number of football games held on the day of Thanksgiving. Sitting on the couch with your family members rooting for the home team is a widely held tradition.
Spending time with family members, especially those you don’t see every day, is the most important part of Thanksgiving. And when it comes to extended family, there is no shortage of jokes. The most common joke? Thanksgiving themed puns. Are you annoyed at yourself every time you laugh at one? Of course. But really, isn't that the point of them?
10 Thanksgiving Puns for Your Instagram
While spending time with your family is important, the day off of work and plenty of downtime while waiting for the turkey to cook and the pies to bake gives many people ample time to play around on their phone. And, on a day where you are surrounded by food porn, what better place to spend your time than scrolling through your Instagram feed.
Because of the increase in photos uploaded on Thanksgiving, you will need your photos to stand out from the pact. What better way to do that than incorporating some Thanksgiving puns into the caption.
Below are our top 10 Thanksgiving puns to use in your Instagram caption.
Butterballin' on a budget.
This is a Thanksgiving pun based on the most common brand of turkeys, Butterball.
Clear eyes, full stomachs, can't lose.
This is a Thanksgiving pun on the famous saying “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” from the popular football focused television show Friday Night Lights.
Is gravy a carb?
This joke is based on the line from Mean Girls “Is butter a carb?”
Just keep eating. Just keep eating.
This Thanksgiving pun is based on Dory from Finding Nemo’s famous line “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”
Nobody puts gravy in the corner.
This Thanksgiving pun is based on the famous line from Dirty Dancing “Nobody puts baby in the corner.”
Imma let you finish, but my mom made the best Thanksgiving dinner of all time.
This Thanksgiving pun is based on Kanye West’s infamous line “Imma let you finish” from the 2009 Video Music Awards. He interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video of the Year, proclaiming that the award should have gone to Beyonce.
You miss 100% of the leftovers you don't eat.
This is a play on the popular phrase by Wayne Gretzky “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Show me the turkey.
This is a Thanksgiving pun on the phrase “Show me the money!” from the 1996 film, Jerry Maguire ·
These sweatpants are all that fits me right now.
Why yes, this is another quote from the movie Mean Girls.
It's not too much food. This is what we've been training for our whole lives. This is our destiny, this is our finest hour.
This quote is from Lorelai Gilmore on the television show, Gilmore Girls.
Conclusion
When celebrating what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving, why not share the photographic evidence with your followers? And the best way to do this is through Thanksgiving puns in your Instagram caption.
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