All Images By: Laura Hoerner
by LUCY MARIANO
Here are a few little-known facts about the Thanksgiving groceries we can’t live without. (Something new to talk about at dinner, perhaps?)
The Pillsbury Doughboy debuted in a 1965 commercial. The now-iconic character popped right out of the can, which is how he got his real name: “Poppin’ Fresh.”
Instant stuffing might sound like it was tailor-made for Thanksgiving, but it was originally advertised as more of an anytime side dish, meant to be used all year round.
Ocean Spray sells about 80 percent of its polarizing logs during Thanksgiving week alone. A fun bit of trivia: It takes about 200 cranberries to make just one can.
“Craisins … are just a little bit irritating because they are counterfeit raisins,” said Sun-Maid Raisin President, Barry Kriebel.
A box of this costs 50 cents on average. One of Jiffy’s secrets to keeping prices extremely low: The company doesn’t spend a cent on advertising. They get by on street cred alone!
The iconic green bean casserole was invented by the Campbell’s Soup test kitchen in 1955 to help boost Cream of Mushroom Soup sales.
Green Giant set a Guinness World Record last year for creating the largest green bean casserole ever. The 1,009-pound casserole used 1,069 cans of green beans.
These crispy spuds are so tied to Campbell’s green bean casserole that French’s struggled to market them outside the holidays, despite a $20 million campaign.
Chrissy Teigen swears by Heinz jarred turkey gravy. She told Delish that she keeps it on hand in case her husband, John Legend, ruins the turkey. Relatable.
The famous canned whipped cream has ties to the shaving cream industry: The founder, Bunny Lapin, even briefly sold a product called Reddi-shave.
During the Great Canned Pumpkin Shortage of 2009, these were largely absent from grocery store shelves, the result of poor pumpkin harvests in Illinois the previous season.