- generalmachineryco
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
In observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday we will be closed Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th. We will resume our regular schedule on Monday November 29th.
As always, we will have someone on call to assist you with your emergency needs.
Fun Facts About Thanksgiving
The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade didn't feature any balloons. If you can't imagine the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade without giant floats featuring your favorite characters, you'd probably barely recognize the first parade in the early 1920s. It did have puppets riding the floats, as well as singers and celebrities and of course, Santa Claus. And when the Thanksgiving parade made its big debut in 1924, it did have something that might be even crazier than balloons - animals from the Central Park Zoo.
About 46 million turkeys are cooked for Thanksgiving each year. Thanksgiving without turkey would be like Christmas without a tree, and most American families consider it equally blasphemous. While not super popular the rest of the year, turkey is a huge hit for holidays, perhaps because it really serves a crowd. On Christmas, 22 million families host an encore with yet another turkey.
A Thanksgiving mix-up inspired the first TV dinners. In 1953, a Swanson employee accidentally ordered a colossal shipment of Thanksgiving turkeys (260 tons, to be exact). To get rid of them all, salesman Gerry Thomas took inspiration from the prepared foods served on airplanes. He came up with the idea of filling 5,000 aluminum trays with the turkey – along with cornbread dressing, gravy, peas and sweet potatoes to round out the meal. The 98-cent meals were a hit, especially with kids and increasingly busy households. Within one year, over 10 million were sold and a whole industry was born.
Birmingham - 800-821-5937
Madison - 800-772-5859
Mobile - 800-476-1588
Montgomery - 800-821-5937
