Unveiling the Shockingly Grim Origins of Mother's Day
Wrecking the Wholesomeness of Mother's Day:
Mother's Day, while generally perceived as a leisurely, run-of-the-mill festival of flowers, cards, and a few household chores, has a gripping backstory far removed from its idyllic depiction. Born amidst the smoke and bloodshed of the Civil War, this American holiday was shaped by radical women, became a battleground for profit over principle, and was a tornado of controversy right from its inception. Let's delve into the dramatic journey that is the history of Mother's Day.
The Goddess-Worshipping Forefathers of Mother's Day
Mother's Day has a rich and long history, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans who celebrated the mother goddesses Cybele and Rhea with grand festivals. During the Medieval period, the church tweaked this tradition, fashioning Mothering Sunday as a day of honoring the Mother Church. Variations of Mother's Day are celebrated on multiple days and in diverse ways across the globe. Some celebrate at graveyards in Peru, while Albanians honor mothers on March 8th. However, these international Mother's Days are not the root inspiration behind the American version of the holiday.
A Holiday Forged in Conflict
Mother's Day officially took root in the United States in 1914, but its roots reach back to the pre-Civil War era, to the tireless work of social activist and community organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis, fondly known as "Mother Jarvis." Jarvis established Mothers' Day Work Clubs, grassroots organizations designed to lower infant mortality rates by educating women on childcare, sanitation, and disease prevention.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Mothers' Day Work Clubs transitioned their focus to caring for wounded soldiers on both sides of the conflict. By 1868, with the war over, Jarvis championed "Mothers' Friendship Day" to promote reconciliation between former Union and Confederate soldiers.
"Why don't the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?" Jarvis penned. (Seriously, what's stopping you, Moms?)
Jarvis wasn't alone in her initiatives. Across the country, other women followed suit, organizing proto-Mother's Days. Abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe penned the "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870, calling for world peace. Later, she fought for a holiday called "Mother's Peace Day" to be celebrated every June 2nd. Similarly, Juliet Calhoun Blakely, a temperance activist from Michigan, inspired a local Mother's Day to be celebrated there in the 1870s. Although the cultural winds were pushing toward Mother's Day, it was Jarvis' passing in 1905 that set the wheels in motion.
The Daughter's Crusade
Jarvis' daughter, Anna Jarvis, picked up the mantle after her mother's death. On the first anniversary of her mother's demise, Anna announced plans for a memorial service in honor of her mother, to take place the following year. She envisioned a national holiday to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children. In 1908, Jarvis, with the backing of financiers John Wanamaker and H.J. Heinz, hosted an official Mother's Day celebration at a church in West Virginia and at Wanamaker's department store. These events inspired Jarvis to push for a national holiday. But it also gave Wanamaker and the like-minded opportunists a tantalizing glimpse of the profit potential embedded in Mother's Day, marking the beginning of a struggle for the soul of Mother's Day.
Mother's Day Transforms into a Consumer Fest
By 1912, Jarvis had left her job to establish the Mother's Day International Association. The Association forged partnerships with local businesses and employed letter-writing campaigns to influence government officials. Towns and churches in several states adopted Mother's Day as an annual holiday, and by 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized it as a national holiday. Some criticized the resolution, such as Senator Henry Moore Teller (D-CO) who deemed it "puerile" and "absolutely absurd." However, most embraced the idea wholeheartedly.
Searching for an angle to cash in on this widespread enthusiasm, Jarvis' former supporters Wanamaker and Heinz set the narrative of the holiday heading in a direction opposed to Jarvis' intentions. Mother's Day transformed from a heartfelt day to honor the commitment and sacrifice of mothers to a commercial powerhouse for gift-giving. Jarvis chafed at the commercialization.
The Quixotic Campaign of Ann Jarvis Against Mother's Day
By 1920, Jarvis had severed ties with her former financial backers, urging everyone not to purchase gifts for their mothers on Mother's Day. She labeled as "charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, and termites" anyone who profited from the holiday, and she trashed restaurants offering Mother's Day specials by throwing a "Mother's Day Salad" on the floor of a Philadelphia eatery.
Not only did she disapprove of restaurants, but she also abhorred greeting cards, stating that "maudlin, insincere printed cards or ready-made telegrams mean nothing except that you're too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world." And do not gift your mother candy on Mother's Day, for "Candy!" Jarvis wrote, "You take a box to Mother-and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment."
However, the worst offenders, the biggest greed-mongers, were the dreaded florists. Jarvis detested the flower industry to the core. At her own expense, she sent thousands of buttons bearing the picture of the official flower of Mother's Day, the white carnation, to women's groups nationwide, in an attempt to steer them away from purchasing flowers. She threatened a trademark lawsuit against Florist Telegraph Delivery (FTD) for combining carnations with the term "Mother's Day." She protested against the U.S. government's Mother's Day stamp featuring Whistler's Mother because she saw the carnations in the painting as an advertisement for the flower industry.
The Sad, Desolate Death of the Mother of Mother's Day
Slander against her heritage may hurt, but Ann Jarvis wore it like a badge of honor. By mid-century, she found herself penniless and living in her sister's house in Philadelphia, without a trace of the influence she once wielded over the President of the United States. In 1943, during her efforts to abolish Mother's Day entirely, Jarvis was placed in the Marshall Square Sanitarium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Was this a generous psychiatric retreat provided by the flower and greeting card industry, seeking to take care of an important figure in their industry, or a final sneer against Jarvis? The answer depends on your perspective. In any case, Jarvis died on November 24, 1948, childless, but faithful to her principles until her death.
- Ann Jarvis, a significant figure in the history of Mother's Day, had a change of heart towards its commercialization, condemning entertainment producers and pop-culture icons who capitalized on the holiday, maybe even considering them akin to termites.
- As the world evolved, Mother's Day transformed from a day deeply rooted in the rich tapestry of history, honoring the sacrifices of mothers, to an occasion celebrated through various forms of entertainment, such as books, social media, and even in pop-culture narratives.
- Initially, the history of Mother's Day was far removed from its current entertaining, commercialized status, with its roots traceable to the ancient Greeks and Romans, where it was celebrated as a festival for the mother goddesses Cybele and Rhea.
- Over the centuries, the celebration of Mother's Day has evolved, with versions of it celebrated in various ways and on different days across the globe. In some cultures, like the Peruvians, it is celebrated at graveyards, while Albanians honor mothers on March 8th.
- Interestingly, although the international versions of Mother's Day are not the direct inspiration behind the American version, they do share a common thread in the sense that they all aim to honor mothers, albeit in their unique ways, which may range from religious rituals to modern-day consumption and entertainment.
