Records tell of a great feast on Christmas day, 1778, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River on the tract that would become Louisville. Among the meats were venison and bear, wild turkey, rabbit, coon, and even buffalo, accompanied by three kinds of corn bread, milk, butter, and even homemade cheese. The main attraction, however, was a very large possum, baked whole, and hanging by its tail from a piece of wood in the center of the table. While it lasted, the marsupial was the preferred meat of the feasters.

- from Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South: An Informal History by Joe Gray Taylor (LSU Press, 1982)