The History of Mothers Day
Reprinted from Big
Commerce Blog
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/mothers-day-by-the-numbers/
Mother’s
Day has a long and varied history. Indeed, mothers have long been heralded by
cultures and societies likely since the dawn of man, though celebrations have
certainly taken different forms over the centuries.
The
U.S. version of Mother’s Day can be traced back to Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia, who in the years before the
Civil War kickstarted local Mothers’ Day Work Clubs aimed at teaching women how
to properly care for their children. As racial and political tensions heated up
in the region, these local work clubs served as a unifying force among women
both during and after the Civil War. In 1868, Jarvis organized “Mothers’
Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate
soldiers to promote reconciliation. Following in the same vein, another
abolitionist and suffragette, Julia Ward Howe, called upon mothers to help
promote world peace in 1870.
Officially,
Mother’s Day reached national holiday recognition in the 1900s, spurred on by
Ann Jarvis’ daughter Anna Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna
Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers
make for their children. Interestingly enough, Anna found financial support for
the first official Mother’s Day celebration from a Philadelphia department
store owner. It was at one of his stores where thousands gathered for that
first event, forever tying the knot between Mother’s Day and retail.
After that first celebration, Anna made it her lifelong
mission to ensure that the holiday reach national attention, saying that too
many U.S. holidays honor the achievements of men. By 1912, many states had
adopted Mother’s Day as a day of recognition and in 1914, President Woodrow
Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as
Mother’s Day.
Today, Mother’s Day is a holiday celebrated
internationally. It is also the third largest retail holiday in the
U.S., behind the winter holidays and the back-to-school season. And indeed, the
numbers speak for themselves:
- $1.9 billion: total amount of money spent on flowers
for their mothers on Mother’s Day
- $20.7 billion: total amount of money that will be
spent for mothers on Mother’s Day
- $671 million: total amount of money
spent on Mother’s Day Cards annually