History of Mother’s Day
Posted: May 8th, 2009 | Author: lovepieces | Filed under: Life, Mother, Relationship | Tags: Anna Jarvis, History of Mother's Day, Mothers Day | No Comments »Rushing out some promotional materials for the Mother’s Day campaign at work, I suddenly asked myself, how did all this started? Where did Mother’s Day come from? Did some US president snap his finger and say, “Let’s have a special day to appreciate mothers” or is there some ancient legend that tells the story of this special day?
After doing some googling, here’s what I found 
Motherhood has always been celebrated.
Anna Jarvis is recognized as the Founder of Mothers Day in US. Her own mother, Mrs. Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, is her inspiration for celebrating Mother’s Day. An activist and social worker, Mrs. Jarvis used to express her desire that someday someone must honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made by them.
When her mother died in 1905, she resolved to fulfill her mother’s desire of having a mother’s day. The first official Mother’s Day celebration was held at Andrew’s Methodist Church on May 10, 1908, with 407 persons in attendance. Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to the church in Grafton. One was to be worn by each son and daughter and two by each mother in attendance.
In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association. “She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.”
Anna Jarvis’ campaign is the reason we have a formal holiday.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared that Mother’s Day should be celebrated as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May.
It didn’t take very long for Mother’s Day to change from a semi-religious occasion of prayers for peace and appreciation of the work and love of mothers around the world to gifts, flowers, candy and dining out extravaganza. Commercialization and other exploitations of the use of Mother’s Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time. Anna Jarvis was actually arrested at a Mother’s Day festival while trying to stop women from selling flowers. Jarvis said “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not profit.” She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She finally said that she “wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control …”
Mother’s Day may not have turned out to be the holiday that Anna Jarvis and countless other women around the world imagined, but it is a celebration of mothers; dedicated to honouring the women who gave so much to their families without asking for anything in return.
Today, Mother’s Day traditions include gifts of cards, presents, flowers and a special dinner. Carnations are still the preferred flowers except that now white flowers are to honor mothers who have passed away, while red and pink are to honor mothers still living. Roses of all colors, especially in arrangements, are always perfect. Traditional gifts are perfumes and jewelry, with the preferred meal of honor being the Sunday Brunch.
Mother’s Day, Muttertag, La Festa della Mamma, Mothering Sunday, Fête des Mères, Día de las Madres… it goes by many different names, but however you say it, the expression of love and appreciation is the same. So, appreciate your mom especially on this special day…
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Best Wishes, LovePieces :p
