A deep dive into a holiday tradition.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 NBC News | 2018-11-22 16:01:59 |  1,290 Views |
Think of The Wishbone: From Dinosaur Relic to Thanksgiving Leftover | Mach | NBC News
When I was a kid the most exciting part of Thanksgiving was competing with my four cousins and my younger brother over who would get to break the wishbone for the coveted wish. Now that I’m hosting Thanksgiving dinners myself I’m curious about the traditions I took for granted. What’s so special about the wishbone and why do we believe that breaking it grants us a wish? It turns out that the history of wishbone breaking is a little occult (if you’re in your witchy girl days you might appreciate this) and spans continents.
The V-shaped bone between the neck and chest the furcula (the correct name for the wishbone) performs an essential function for birds including chickens geese and turkeys. It helps the wings function properly.
While we associate the tradition with writing Thanksgiving wishes on bones it predates the arrival of Europeans in the United States. Italians and Germans used bird bones for divination says Kathy Rudder manager of 17th-century domestic skills at the Plimoth Patuxet Museums in Massachusetts. "The Etruscans thought birds were oracles" Rudder says "so when they killed one they were trying to get as much of that divination power as possible. They would rub the bones."
