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Home » Turkey Wishbone Breaking Tradition

Turkey Wishbone Breaking Tradition

By Janice VanCleave

Wishbone BreakingThanksgiving is a US holiday originating from the Pilgrims’ giving thanks to God for supplying the resources they needed to survive the long winter in the new world.

Among other customs, the pilgrims brought the tradition of the breaking of the wishbone. The basic rules for this event have not changed. Two people, each holding one end of of the wishbone pull the wishbone until one of the ” legs” break.

While the custom of breaking the wishbone is still being practiced, the superstitious “magic powers” of the bone has been lost. UUM! Maybe I should say my family doesn’t put in any stock in pulling on a wishbone in hopes a wish will be granted. In fact, with my family, wish granting was not the goal, instead it was WINNING!

Since no one was sure which was the winning piece of the wishbone, each year a decision was made before starting the Wishbone Tug-of-War.

Who is Wishbone Breaking Winner?

My family’s wishbone tradition was that when the wishbone was relatively free of turkey meat, two kids pulled the wishbone apart. There was always a chorus of young voices reaping, “It’s my turn!” With only one wishbone per turkey, only two kids could play this game.

Turkeys still only have one wishbone, but a smart inventor has created a plastic replica of a wishbone. Now all the kids and even the adults can have fun breaking a turkey wishbone.

Real and Fake Turkey Wishbones

For more information, see
LUCKY BREAK WISHBONE.

Call toll free and order by phone.

1-866-LUCKY-WISH
(1-866-582-5994)

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Filed Under: Force and Motion, Physics

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The spoon hanging from the string vibrates when struck and these vibrations are transmitted through the string and the sound is amplified by the plastic cups. ABOUT ME: Hi, I am Janice VanCleave, author of 50 best-selling science experiment books for children ages 4 through high school. I taught science for 27 years. MORE.....

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