Category:
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Lucky Break Wishbone v Sears
In 1999, after eating Thanksgiving dinner, Ken Ahroni came up with the idea of making plastic wishbones as a novelty item. He used the actual wishbone from that dinner as the model on which he based the design of the plastic ones which he marketed as "Lucky Break Wishbones."
A few years later Sears got wind of Ahroni's plastic wishbones, thought they might be a fun item to sell around Thanksgiving, and asked him to send a few samples. Ahroni happily did so, but then Sears turned around and sent his samples to a Chinese company that used them as a reference to make cheaper wishbones that Sears proceeded to sell.
Ahroni sued Sears for copyright infringement, and a jury awarded him $1.7 million.
Hard to feel much sympathy for Sears since they undeniably ripped off his idea. But in terms of copyright infringement it was an odd case since a wishbone doesn't seem like something that would be protected by copyright.
I don't think Ahroni is selling his plastic wishbones anymore. His website (luckybreakwishbone.com) has been abandoned.
More info: The Trademark and Copyright Law blog
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 24, 2023 -
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Category: Lawsuits, Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving ride on a turkey
Happy Thanksgiving!
Richmond Times-Dispatch - Nov 27, 1930
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 23, 2023 -
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Category: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Hair Tonic Cocktail
In 1909, Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Müller of Chicago received a patent for a hair tonic that, so he claimed, would cause hair "to grow on bald spots of the head." All you had to do was thoroughly rub it into the scalp with the tips of the fingers several times a day.The tonic struck some at the patent office as sounding quite tasty. So it was served as an aperitif at the 1936 Thanksgiving-week banquet in Washington DC celebrating 100 years of the American patent system.
Tacoma News Tribune - Nov 24, 1936
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 24, 2022 -
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Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants, Patents, Thanksgiving, Hair and Hairstyling, Alcohol
International Association of People Who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink
Norm Hankoff had the idea for the "International Association of People Who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink" in 1991, while he was standing at the sink using potato chips to spoon tuna salad into his mouth.The next year he founded the Association. He referred to its members as 'sinkies'. Then, in 1994, he came out with The Official Sinkies Don't Cook Book, which included "recipes" such as:
- cakeless frosting
- a handful of mashed potatoes
- a cracker topped with mayo, then another cracker, then American cheese, then another cracker, mustard, cracker, pickle chip, cracker and Swiss cheese
- chocolate cake in a glass of milk
Amazon Link
The Association still exists. Or, at least, it still has a website: sinkie.com.
Sinkies consider the day after Thanksgiving to be their annual holiday. They call it "Dine Over Your Kitchen Sink Day".
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 25, 2021 -
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Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Food, Thanksgiving
How to make a turkey ornament out of used pantyhose
The Great Pantyhose Crafts Book (1982) explains how to make all kinds of things out of used pantyhose. For the Thanksgiving table, it offers instructions for a pantyhose turkey ornament.I imagine a pantyhose turkey would add a touch of class to any Thanksgiving gathering.
You can read the entire book for free via archive.org.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 26, 2020 -
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Category: Crafts, Underwear, Thanksgiving
Plan a super spread for Thanksgiving
A recent ad from Giant Foods, given a double meaning by Covid. More info: nbc.com
Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 21, 2020 -
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Category: Advertising, Thanksgiving, Diseases
Happy Thanksgiving 2019
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 28, 2019 -
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Category: Animals, Holidays, Thanksgiving
The year of multiple Thanksgivings
Thanksgiving used to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November until 1939, when President Roosevelt decided to move it back a week in order to help retailers by lengthening the pre-Christmas shopping season. Not everyone was happy with this decision. As wikipedia notes:Republicans decried the change, calling it an affront to the memory of Lincoln. People began referring to November 30 as the "Republican Thanksgiving" and November 23 as the "Democratic Thanksgiving" or "Franksgiving". Regardless of the politics, many localities had made a tradition of celebrating on the last Thursday, and many football teams had a tradition of playing their final games of the season on Thanksgiving; with their schedules set well in advance, they could not change. Since a presidential declaration of Thanksgiving Day was not legally binding, Roosevelt's change was widely disregarded. Twenty-three states went along with Roosevelt's recommendation, 22 did not, and some, like Texas, could not decide and took both days as government holidays.
So Governor Lee O'Daniel declared that Texas would celebrate 2 official days of Thanksgiving, but some parts of the state weren't satisfied with that. The city of Monahans decided they were going to have 3 Thanksgivings: on the 16th, 23rd, and 30th. Then Harlingen, Texas upped the ante by declaring they were going to have a full 8 days of Thanksgiving. They designated every day from the 23rd to the 30th as an official day of Thanksgiving.
That sounds like a swell idea to me. A full week of gluttony!
Arizona Republic - Nov 2, 1939
Warren Times Monitor - Nov 16, 1939
McAllen Monitor - Nov 19, 1939
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 22, 2018 -
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Category: Holidays, Thanksgiving, 1930s
Happy Thanksgiving 2018!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 22, 2018 -
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Category: Holidays, Thanksgiving
Ham Kills Turkey
Back in 1984, the social studies class at Highland Middle School in Louisville had a six-week study of the American pioneers' way of life, in honor of Thanksgiving. This included having the eighth graders decapitate a live turkey named Willy Wally. Some of the students held down Willy Wally while a student named Robin Ham swung an ax down on its neck.Said Ham, "It was bleeding everywhere. It was flapping around a little. It was kind of grossing me out." Then added, "It was a neat experience. I feel it was pretty enriching, but I don't think I want to do it again. I've had enough of enrichment."
Louisville Courier-Journal - Nov 16, 1984
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 23, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Thanksgiving
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