This Thanksgiving tradition must surely be puzzling to outsiders. So ingrained in the American psyche, and yet so bizarre and - by any objective means - ugly.
Just imagine trying to explain it to someone from another country.
"Kids trace their hands, and then they turn the thumb into the turkey's head, the fingers into its tail feathers, and draw feet."
"But… why?" (A reasonable question.)
"Because it's Thanksgiving!" (Note: This is not actually an answer.)
Why do we draw hand turkeys? Because we can.
If you are perhaps new to America, here is a tutorial on how to make a hand turkey. These instructions include the important "construction paper" variation, which is where you trace your fingers on different colors of construction paper so that each of the turkey's four lone feathers is a different color. (The standard variation is simply drawn on white paper and then colored in with crayons.)
Hand turkeys are so ingrained in American culture that we rarely even question them. Why do we make hand turkeys and not hand bunnies for Easter? Or hand reindeer for Christmas? I'm sure that people do, but these are not nearly as ubiquitous as hand turkeys.
I think part of the appeal lies in seeing something mundane in a new way. You're so used to your hand, but then when you realize it can also be a turkey, it kind of blows your mind. (When you are five.)
As you might expect, the internet has had a field day with hand turkeys. I found some hilarious examples of the form, including this Huffington Post hand turkey contest, this collection of amazing hand turkeys from Instagram, and these particularly weird examples found online. (I especially like the pottery hand turkey candelabras! So strangely gruesome.)
Image courtesy Flickr/brandi666
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