Every year, we rush to our favorite flower shop to buy the best bouquets we can find for one very special person in our lives.... our mom. Why do we do that? Because it's Mother's Day. It's a day where we show our moms how much they mean to us. But do we even know why we have a Mother's Day or how it came to be?
It all started with Anna Jarvis. She is recognized as the founder of the Mother's Day holiday. On May 12, 1907, two years after her mother died, she had a memorial for her mother after which she set off on a campaign to make Mother's Day as a recognized holiday in the US. Mother's Day eventually became recognized as a national holiday in 1914. In Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna spent most of her childhood, you will find the “International Mother's Day Shrine” which was put up by the locals in honor of her accomplishment.
The International Mother's Day Shrine used to be the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church which was the original site of the Mother's Day commemoration. This was where Anna started by handing out carnations in honor of mothers everywhere. The idea eventually caught on and finally spread to forty-six states.
Carnations and wearing a carnation also came to represent Mother's Day because it was the first one delivered in one of the founder's celebrations. Anna gave a single white carnation to every person present as a sign of a mother's pure love. She chose the flower because it was her mother's favorite. Eventually, shortages in white carnation flowers led florists to promote red carnations. Wear red if your mom is still alive and white if your mom is dead. They tirelessly promoted the idea which eventually broke through and became the popular observations at churches.
Anna eventually soured up to the idea of Mother's Day getting too “commercialized.” She hated the fact that people were not giving much effort in showing their appreciation for their mother's by just buying printed greeting cards or buying a box of chocolates for their mom and eating the chocolates themselves. She went as far as saying, “I wish I never started the day because it became so out of control.” She incorporated herself as the “Mother's Day International Association and claimed copyright on the second Sunday of May in an effort to stop the holiday which she herself created. Together with her sister, they spent the entire family inheritance in battling the holiday, they eventually died in poverty.
Today, Mother's Day is celebrated in over one hundred countries worldwide. It has also become commercially viable for a lot of businesses in the US around the world as well. The National Restaurant Association reports that Mother's Day has become the most popular day of the year to dine out all across America. It is so big a business considering that according to a publisher of business research, Americans usually spend around $2.6 billion on flowers, another $1.53 billion on pampering gifts as well as another $68 million on greeting cards..... all in a single day. Jewelry also sees the increase in their sales. Mother's Day generated 7.8% of the annual revenue of the US jewelry industry back in 2008.
Over the years, Mother's Day has become more of what it was intended to be by Anna Jarvis. It has evolved into a big business opportunity for a lot of enterprising people looking to cash in on the occasion. What's important is keeping the meaning of the occasion to heart. Hard times may prevent us from buying the gifts our mothers deserve but remember that there is no greater joy to mothers than having their children spend time with them. Buy your mom a bouquet of flowers and just spend the day with her. She will be thrilled to have you over.