Inventions That Changed the Way We Celebrate Thanksgiving

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday and in a lot of ways, the traditional Thanksgiving celebration has remained the same since the very popular “first” Thanksgiving meal between American Indians and pilgrims a few centuries ago. A few processes, tools and meals have remained stalwart on the list of Thanksgiving products, like cranberries and turkeys. Even the sweet potato casserole (marshmallow-topped) is more than 100 years old.

But, while a lot of things have remained the same, a lot of other things have changed (some quite drastically). Since the first Thanksgiving — and even in the last 50 years alone. Thanksgiving products and inventions come in all shapes and sizes and work to solve a myriad of problems and this has led to food trends shifting, and meal prep processes evolving completely!

Below, we’ll cover five Thanksgiving products that were created to solve holiday problems that you never knew existed.

Automatic Mashed Potato System

This invention is quite recent as it was only created in 2007. In an effort to solve the problem of the inconsistent and time-consuming process that was the conventional potato-mashing process. This machine takes away most of the stress associated with making mashed potatoes as all you have to do is feed the machines the potatoes through a unit in the upper cavity of the machine and it’ll handle the rest. The Automatic Mashed Potato System would then pass the potatoes to a removable collection tray through a seasoning unit where you can easily collect your seasoned mashed potatoes. Voila! Your mashed potatoes to be served!

Pie Filling Device

Though this device may not sound earth shattering, this 1986 Thanksgiving invention is actually quite useful. This pie Filling Device was created to fill pie shells within a hot oven with a fluid filling using a pumping apparatus. This Device was invented because filling pie shells while they were still cooking was a tedious task no one looked forward to.

Pumpkin Powder

I know that pumpkin powder does not very exciting or appetizing but it was invented in 1897. In order to alleviate the stress associated with making pies. The pumpkin powder was created by mashing the edible part of a pumpkin, sweet potato or squash into meal or powder form. This way the powder created could then be combined with milk or water to make pies.

Frozen stuffed Fowl

Not everyone wants to, or has the time to stuff their own turkeys and in 1960, an invention was created to improve the tools and process used for the preparation of frozen stuffed fowl. This way, Thanksgiving cooks could take their turkeys directly from the freezer. Placing the turkeys in the oven – no need to thaw, stuff, sew or truss anymore.

Pop-Up Timers

Today, it is generally recommended turkeys be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This wasn’t always the case. In the 1960s, recipes called for a very slow and very low roasting like 325 for 9 HOURS until the turkey registers 190 degrees Fahrenheit. But this led to Turkeys constantly being over cooked so Pop-up timers we invented and introduced in the 1960s to be placed in turkeys so as to try to combat the overcooking problem.

When we think about Thanksgiving, the first thing that comes to mind is food and now that we’ve seen five inventions that have changed the way we cook and eat during Thanksgiving, have you discovered a new-found respect for your Thanksgiving tools?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from all of us at LA New Product Development Team!