Talking Turkey

In a bit of facetious political whimsy, written in a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin once expounded on the Turkey as a more fitting American symbol than the Bald Eagle. This has since expanded into a legend that he seriously put this before Congress. I, for one, am glad that this was an effort neither true nor successful, because I hate the thought of not being able to eat turkey at Thanksgiving because of its official status. Interestingly enough, the turkey was a also symbol of Pride and Vanity in early European art after the bird was imported from the New World.