7 things you likely didn’t know about Mother’s Day

 

Mother’s Day is an internationally celebrated holiday with a rather complicated history. (Pixabay pic)

Aside from her birthday, Mother’s Day is one celebration that honours mothers for the role they play in your life and for the sacrifices they have made for you.

But as it happens, the story behind Mother’s Day, largely celebrated on the second Sunday of May, is surprisingly controversial and somewhat tragic.

What started off as a day to officially oppose the waging of war has somehow been watered-down to a commercialised celebration replete with flowers, dinners and presents.

Here are seven facts you likely did not know about the evolution of Mother’s Day.

1. It was an anti-war effort

Mother’s Day was first proposed as an anti-war movement after the bloody American Civil War. (Wikipedia pic)

Mother’s Day is largely credited to Anna Jarvis, an American anti-war activist. It was declared an official holiday in 1914, with the day meant to be a time for children to celebrate their mothers.

While Jarvis saw herself as the “Mother of Mother’s Day”, the idea for a day celebrating mothers had been around for a while.

Julia Ward Howe, for example, proposed a Mothers’ Peace Day back in 1872; it was meant to foster international unity after recent devastating conflicts.

The day was supposed to be spent by women gathering to pray and speak in the name of peace.

However, this early attempt at a Mother’s Day only took off among peace activists and would ultimately lose traction over time.

2. There were fights over who founded it

Frank Hering was a football coach from Notre Dame University who suggested setting aside a day to celebrate mothers. (Pinterest pic)

Before Jarvis produced her idea, Frank Hering, a former football coach from Notre Dame University suggested setting aside a day in memory of mothers and motherhood.

This was in 1904 and while he did not set a particular date for his proposed Mother’s Day, he did suggest it fall on a Sunday.

Jarvis disliked the possibility of Mother’s Day having a “father” and she would denounce Hering in a public statement accusing him of kidnapping the holiday.

Some people suggest that Jarvis was somewhat egoistic and wanted to be completely recognised as the rightful founder of Mother’s Day.

3. A president tried to make a Mother’s Day stamp

The first stamp commemorating Mother’s Day was designed by US President Franklin D Roosevelt. (Smithsonion pic)

The 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt actually took the time to design a Mother’s Day postage stamp in 1934.

The stamp was originally meant to honour an artist who had made a painting of his mother, with the painting being featured on the stamp.

Jarvis disliked the stamp, thinking it ugly, and refused to have the words “Mother’s Day” appear on the stamp, which it ultimately did not.

4. Its founder opposed Mother’s Day fundraisers

Anna Jarvis despised seeing Mother’s Day being used for commercial purposes. (Wikipedia pic)

Even in its early years, Mother’s Day was used by charity groups and other organisations to raise funds for causes like impoverished mothers.

Jarvis was vehemently opposed to this practice and while this may seem unreasonable by today’s standards, Jarvis simply did not trust these organisations’ practices.

She particularly suspected them of raising funds solely to make a profit for themselves.

5. Its founder lost her mind and money protecting her holiday

As businesses took advantage of Mother’s Day, Jarvis was outraged to see it become a “burdensome, wasteful, expensive gift day” in the likes of Christmas.

She said that she would prefer to see Mother’s Day gone rather than being commercialised.

Despite her status as its founder, she never made a cent off Mother’s Day. On the contrary, she lost everything in her fight to stave off the commercialisation of the holiday.

Her mental health would take a hit as a result, and she died poor at the age of 84 in a sanatorium.

6. Her fights went all the way to court

Jarvis launched several lawsuits to prevent organisations from using Mother’s Day. (Pixabay pic)

Jarvis regarded Mother’s Day to be her intellectual and legal property and eagerly took organisations who used Mother’s Day for their own purposes to court.

She ended up embroiled in so many legal lawsuits that at one point, she was filing over 30 of them at the same time.

7. Flowers have always been part of Mother’s Day

The white carnation was originally designated as the official flower of Mother’s Day. (Pixabay pic)

Jarvis’ mother always loved white carnations, and her daughter would designate the flower as the flower of Mother’s Day.

Her explanation was, “The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying.”

These days, people buy whatever flowers they wish for Mother’s Day, preferring to instead buy according to their mother’s personal favourites. - FMT