History of Mother's Day

Luba · 05-14-2006, 10:03 AM

I was browsing the Internet for News and since I am interested in History more now than ever curious to see all the responses and jokes about my age here I thought I would check this out and share it with you...

Mother's Day was not conceived at Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honour of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

In the U.S., Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers and called it "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

In 1905, Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, Anna, began a campaign to memorialize her mother's life work. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."

Anna lobbied prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her Mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the Federal Government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recogizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

At first people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers; sending cards, presents, and flowers came later. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carantions for a war mother's group. Before here death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.

Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day flourishes. The second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic as sons and daughters everywhere express appreciation of their mothers.

from 123Holiday

TKDLady · 05-14-2006, 01:41 PM

I agree with her about the greed and profit. It is the same with almost all holidays anymore. The true reasons behind them are forgotten while the businesses get fat. I prefer my kids to give me a hug, wish me well, and let me relax while they do my job for a day. To me, that is Mother's Day.

Merika · 05-15-2006, 07:20 AM

Mother's Day was not conceived at Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honour of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

That was very interesting Luba. I had no idea. As for us, the kids asked me to put it off for a week because Chloe doesn't get paid on her job until today.....so we decided to wait until next weekend and go eat someplace fancy. Probably a good idea since everything won't be so crowded and the cards will be half price.

Vautrin · 05-16-2006, 12:06 PM

Exactly. We should teach our kids that they can save a fortune, if they celebrate Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. a day later.

Star · 05-20-2006, 06:28 PM

I never expect a whole lot on Mother's Day. I've always had cards that the kids made me themselves and gifts they make also. one year, kassandra made me a booklet of coupons. took me 2 years to use them all up! they were awesome coupons, like, foot massage, do the dishes, clean the bathroom, tidy up the house, vacuum, etc... those are the perfect gifts for me!! This year i got pizza and wings, a card that kass made herself, a phone call from krystal and got to be lazy all day long watching whatever i wanted to watch on TV all day until midnight.

Happy with that!

Vautrin · 05-20-2006, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star

I never expect a whole lot on Mother's Day. I've always had cards that the kids made me themselves and gifts they make also. one year, kassandra made me a booklet of coupons. took me 2 years to use them all up!

Took you two years? That says a lot.

My problem with mother's day is, purely relating this to my mom:
1) my mom hates the institution
2) my mom never knows what she wants
3) and even if she does know what she wants it is not for herself :?

Luba · 05-21-2006, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vautrin

3) and even if she does know what she wants it is not for herself :?

Your Mother sounds like a very unselfish and wonderful person, Vautrin!

Vautrin · 05-21-2006, 08:35 AM

Yes, indeed Luba. My gf even wants to adopt her.

Luba · 05-21-2006, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Yes, indeed Luba. My gf even wants to adopt her.

Well there it is, Vautrin, may I be so bold as to say that when you and your girlfriend get married, at least you won't have 'in-law'problems...sad to say, but they could cause a lot of grief

Vautrin · 05-21-2006, 08:47 AM

Not with my parents at least. Her parents may be a bit different though.

Luba · 05-21-2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Not with my parents at least. Her parents may be a bit different though.

Have you met her parents already, Vautrin?

Vautrin · 05-21-2006, 09:06 AM

I met her father and stepmom. But not the other half of her parents (her mom and stepfather).

They live about 10,000 miles apart, so that makes a bit of sense though.

Luba · 05-21-2006, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vautrin

I met her father and stepmom. But not the other half of her parents (her mom and stepfather).

They live about 10,000 miles apart, so that makes a bit of sense though.

Please forgive me for laughing, Vautrin, my first thought was "is sometimes 10,000 miles ever enough?"....sorry, our family had a baaaddd esperience with an in-law that could have shattered all of us.. though there are some remaining painful memories... but thankfully we have come through fairly intact!

Vautrin · 05-21-2006, 12:17 PM

Her mom lives somewhere in the US, and her father lives in South Africa. 10,000 miles might be a slight exaggeration, but still.

And from what I understand is that her parents did not have the best of marriages, so that it might be a good thing for them to be quite far apart.