10 Facts About Pumpkin Pie

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Pumpkin pie was not served at the first Thanksgiving, though pumpkins were used in other recipes at the time.

The American colonists used pumpkin in pie crusts, but not in the filling.

The type of pumpkin pie we know today was not made until the 1700s.

The first recorded recipe for "modern" pumpkin pie was published in 1796 in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. It was called 'Pompkin Pudding.' The cookbook was the first one devoted to foods native to the Americas.

In 1929, Libby's canned pumpkin was introduced to America. Libby's is not actually pumpkin but another kind of squash called a Dickinson that also has orange flesh.

Libby's bought all the rights to the Dickinson and has developed its own version of the squash, called Libby Select No. 12, over which the company holds proprietary rights.

Every year, 50 million pumpkin pies are made using Libby's canned product.

Nestle bought Libby's in 1971.

Morton, Illinois, where the main Libby's processing plant is located, calls itself the pumpkin capital of the world.

The world's largest pumpkin pie weighed over 350 pounds and was made with 80 pounds of pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, and 144 eggs.

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So when the Thanksgiving dinner conversation turns into an uncomfortable discussion about politics, you can change the subject by blurting out, "Hey, did you know this isn't pumpkin pie, but actually Dickinson pie?"

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