Mother's Day Remorse (Motherlover)

The founder of Mother's Day (it's this weekend) later came to loathe it, as I explained a few years ago HERE.  She died penniless and alone in an asylum in 1948, at the age of 84.

The irony of that brought to mind one of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches from a few years ago. "Because every Mother's Day needs a Mother's Night," here's the song 'Motherlover' featuring Justin Timberlake and Susan Sarandon.

Why Is "Star Wars Day" On May 4th?

Yesterday was "Star Wars Day" apparently, an occasion that passed me by.

When I saw a reference to it online just now, I wondered what significance May 4th has for Star Wars fans. A quick search revealed that apparently the date was chosen because it would result in a pun on "May the Force be with you" (i.e. "May the Fourth be with you").

Yeah.

This video made me laugh. I'm not sure whether that's despite, or because of, that pun.

The History of the Chimichanga

I wrote HERE a few years ago about how Cinco de Mayo is not "Mexican Independence Day" (that's September 16th) but rather a celebration of a short lived, strategically insignificant victory by Mexican forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 over the French, who'd invaded Mexico over unpaid debts. Perhaps that's why Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in Mexico.

In that spirit, I decided to look into the history of the chimichanga this morning, on Cinco de Mayo 2014. The origins of the deep fried burrito are murky, according to THIS OC Weekly article. Though there's apparently general agreement that it first appeared on the Arizona-Sonora border, the name itself has no linguistic roots in Spanish.  (Apparently "chimi" means nothing by itself, and "changa" is a female monkey in Mexican Spanish.)  A Tucson, Arizona restaurant claims to've invented it in 1922, and another one in Phoenix claims to've made the first one in 1946.

You may enjoy this official music video for the song "Chimichanga" by Los Quintero de Sinaloa.

Did You Know That Today Is "Patriots' Day"?

The focus will likely be on the running of the Boston Marathon today, following last year's bombing. But did you know that the event is held on "Patriots' Day" every year?  I'd never heard of "Patriots' Day" until I lived in Boston myself for a couple of years, because it's not a national holiday. 

It commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the first battles of the American Revolution. The focus of the celebrations (beyond the marathon) is reenactments of those battles. (Below is home video from the 2010 reenactment, which for much of its 7 minutes makes the Battle of Lexington look like a junior high school dance, where the boys and girls stand separately and eye each other nervously and hesitantly from across the room.)

I can understand why it's a state holiday in Massachusetts.  But why, I wonder, is it also a public school holiday in Wisconsin?

The Real History of Easter

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays.  But I never knew much about how (and why) all the secular traditions, like Easter bunnies and Easter baskets and egg hunts, evolved alongside the religious festival.

This 3 minute piece from the History Channel addresses a lot of that in a quick, whimsical way. 

What's "Auld Lang Syne"?

Last night, the NBC Nightly News did a 2 minute segment examining the origins and meaning of this traditional New Years song, with its bizarre title and sometimes cryptic lyrics. (The answer: roughly "old times' sake").

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Real Story of Thanksgiving

Yesterday night the History Channel aired a one hour special titled The Real Story of Thanksgiving, which I thought was great.  It lovingly debunked a series of myths, assumptions, and urban legends that have grown up around the holiday, while managing never to be mocking or dismissive.  You can also watch it on You Tube HERE.

In case you don't want to spend an hour on that, here are a few highlights.

• The day before Thanksgiving is not, it turns out, the busiest travel day of the year.  ("It's not even close.  Actually, it's the 25th busiest travel day.")  In reality, the busiest travel day of the year every year turns out to be some friday in June or July.
• The supposed 'first Thanksgiving' among Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621 was actually forgotten for over 200 years and was not re-discovered until the 19th Century, after Thanksgiving had already become an unofficial regional holiday in New England.  
• Abraham Lincoln was the first US President to officially recognize Thanksgiving, which he did during the Civil War.  For obvious reasons, the day was largely ignored in the South.
• In 1939, FDR changed the date on which Thanksgiving was celebrated, by moving it back a week (to make more time for Christmas shopping).  But 'The People' revolted, calling it 'Franksgiving Day,' apparently. This problem wasn't rectified until 1941, when the US Congress finally made Thanksgiving an official US federal holiday, to be held on the last Thursday of every November. (Then less than two weeks after that first official Thanksgiving holiday, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.)

"Veterans Day" Is Its Second Name, Actually

Today is Veterans Day in the United States.  Did you know that, from its inception in 1926 until the mid-1950s, it was known as 'Armistice Day' and celebrated only veterans who died in World War I (as well as the cause of "world peace"), explicitly excluding all other veterans.

In 1954, the holiday was re-named 'Veterans Day' by President Eisenhower, and its stated purpose was revised to celebrate all veterans of the US military.

The History of Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, even though trick-or-treating always struck me as an odd tradition given our nation's pervasive religiosity. How did it all come about, then?

A 3 minute history of Halloween from the National Geographic Channel  HERE does an excellent job, I think, of answering this question with both speed and depth.  While the holiday's origins date back over 3,000 years, the tradition of "trick or treating" apparently began with Irish immigrants to America during the Potato Famine, who brought with them a tradition of committing 'pranks' on Halloween night. By the time of the Great Depression, however, this 'harmless Irish tradition' had evolved into mean-spirited hooliganism and related extortion rackets.

This became such a widespread social problem in America that the tradition of having neighbors give candy to random children on Halloween for the asking was initiated in the mid-1930s to try to reform this growing public problem. And it worked.

Is Columbus Day A "Real" Holiday?

Today is Columbus Day, commemorating Columbus' arrival in 'The Americas' on October 12,1492.  The broad term 'The Americas' obscures the awkward fact that what Columbus really did was sail among several Caribbean Islands. On October 12th, he made landfall in The Bahamas, followed by Cuba on October 28th, and Haiti on December 5th, before returning to Europe in January 1493.

Though it's been celebrated in America since colonial times and even though it's been a federal holiday in the United States since 1937, it's one of those holidays that's observed widely differently across the country. In some places like New York City there are big parades.  In contrast, Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota do not observe Columbus Day at all.  Many other states, including California and Texas, no longer treat it as a paid holiday for government workers, but still treat it as a 'day of recognition.' (A 'Day of Recognition' seems like the holiday equivalent of an 'unfunded mandate' to me.)

There are probably a number of reasons for this divergent treatment of Columbus Day.  But one factor that's been an issue for my entire life certainly is modern resistance to the colloquialism that "Columbus Discovered America" and an increasingly universal recognition of the catastrophic impact of the arrival of Europeans on the indigenous populations of Native Americans.

But there's apparently been organized resistance to the holiday dating back to the 19th Century, albeit for entirely different reasons.  Back then, Columbus' Italian heritage caused the holiday to be associated with Italian immigrants from Europe, by both its proponents and opponents.  As a result, Columbus Day was seen by some (especially Nativists opposed to further immigration) as a sinister effort to expand the influence of Catholicism in the United States.

Why Isn't Labor Day On May 1?

It's probably a couple of weeks too late to be discussing Labor Day.  But having lived abroad for much of the last decade, and having experienced first hand the riotous street celebrations on "May Day" each year in London, I've repeatedly wondered why we in America celebrate Labor Day in September every year, while much of the rest of the world celebrates 'International Workers' Day' on May 1st. Now I've learned why, finally.

Labor Day has been a Federal holiday in the United States since 1894.  It origins go back to the Haymarket Riot in Chicago on May 4, 1886, when a public demonstration in support of striking workers turned violent.  In 1889 an international socialist organization meeting in Paris called for annual protest marches to be staged all over the world commemorating this Haymarket Riot, to begin the following year.

After a severe financial crisis in America in 1893, on May 1, 1894, riots broke out among the unemployed of Cleveland, Ohio, and then, just a few days later, on May 11, 1894, the famous Pullman Strike by railway workers was called.  US President Grover Cleveland quickly reconciled with this increasingly activist (and disruptive) labor movement, and six days after the end of the Pullman Strike Congress rushed through legislation declaring Labor Day to be a Federal holiday. The September date was chosen specifically to avoid the day turning into an annual commemoration of these famous workers' strikes and riots, and to avoid direct association with international socialism.

As a result,  we in America now have a quiet day of BBQs in September each year, marking the effective end to summer, while anarchists and students riot in London every year on May 1st.

Oh, 1776... Of Course!

According to THIS ABC News article today, among young Americans aged 18-29 surveyed in a new Marist poll, 68% did not know that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. (41% were "unsure," while 27% gave an incorrect year.)

Maybe you had to be alive for the Bicentennial in 1976 for that date to be indelible.

History of July 4th

Presumably everyone who is affected the July 4th holiday in the United States knows of the historical events it commemorates.  But I thought it interesting that Independence Day wasn't made a federal holiday until 1870 (after the Civil War) and even then it was an unpaid holiday.  (Is that really a holiday at all, then?) It wasn't declared a paid federal holiday until 1938.

I also thought it was interesting trivia that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, each a Founding Father and later a U.S. President, died on July 4, 1826.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

MSNBC's Willie Geist highlighted a few potential Father's Day gifts in this 5 minute clip below.  I didn't think that the first couple of minutes of this clip were all that funny.  But hold on for the SlobStopper. ("Bibs aren't just for babies!")  It's worth the wait.  Alternatively, you can just watch the 30 second SlobStopper TV commercial on You Tube HERE.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Father's Day Only Made Official In 1972

I find the historical 'back story' of many of our national holidays fascinating.  I wrote last year HERE about the history of Mother's Day, which was first celebrated in 1908 in West Virginia.  As it turns out, the first Father's Day was also celebrated in West Virginia in 1908, just a couple of months later and a few towns away.    (That's not believed to be coincidental.) 

I thought it was also interesting that, while Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day an official national holiday in 1914, Father's Day was not accorded the same status until 1972, when it was formally declared a national holiday by Richard Nixon.  Two earlier attempts to designate it a national holiday were apparently defeated by Congress. (What were the persuasive arguments against it back then, I wonder.)

On a related note, here's a 3-minute music video parody for Father's Day called "It's A Dad's Life" that I thought was pretty funny:

A Very Brief History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called "Decoration Day," began as a celebration of the Union soldiers who had fought during the Civil War. But it was not widely celebrated in big American cities until after World War I. The populations of those cities had originally swelled with European immigrants, and the American Civil War held little resonance for them.  


Did you know that the name of the holiday was officially changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day"only in 1967? And it was only in 1971 that Congress officially designated the last Monday in May each year as the date of "Memorial Day," so as to create an annual three day weekend holiday?

The Founder Of "Mother's Day" Actually Hated It

One hundred years ago tomorrow West Virginia became the first state in the United States to formally recognize "Mother's Day" as an official holiday, to be held on the second Sunday in May each year. It was founded by a woman named Anna Jarvis in honor of her own mother.  In 1912, she trademarked the terms "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day," but then, according to MSNBC, "she spent the rest of her life fighting the holiday's commercial and political exploitation."  


Anna Jarvis never married and had no children herself.  She and her sister spent their entire inheritance in subsequent years campaigning against the holiday Anna herself started. She died penniless and alone in an asylum in 1948, at the age of 84.  Here's an interesting quote from her, "A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment."

Cinco De Mayo: Celebrating The Inevitable Delayed

May 5th is celebrated as "Cinco De Mayo" in the southwest United States and increasingly elsewhere in America. But it's not widely celebrated in Mexico, actually, in part because it's not, as is widely supposed by revelers in America (and perhaps by the flag wavers, too) "Mexican Independence Day." Rather it commemorates the unlikely victory of the Mexican Army over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on this date in 1862. 


It was all over unpaid debts, actually.  In 1861 Mexico had stopped making payments on national debts it owed to several foreign nations, including France. So, in the style of the day, the French invaded Mexico in an attempt to occupy it and force repayment.  The surprising Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla only delayed the inevitable, however. A year later the French took control of Mexico City and later installed Maximilian I as their puppet Emperor of Mexico in 1864. Five years after the Battle of Puebla, in 1867, Maximilian I was deposed and executed.


Perhaps the rioters in Greece today should be a little more thankful that European debt repayment methods have evolved over the last 150 years.

Sketchy Mall Easter Bunnies

Last Christmas I posted a link to a website called Sketchy Santas that features vintage family photos of kids sitting on the laps of  particularly creepy looking mall Santas.  Well, they now have a companion website for mall Easter Bunnies that you can view HERE.

St. Patrick's Day And George Washington

I wrote previously here about how, despite the fact that Valentine's Day dates back to Roman times, the holiday as we celebrate it today (with cards, flowers, candy and gifts) is essentially a creation of post-World War II America.


I expected something similar to be true of Saint Patrick's Day, which is today.  But as it turns out St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in America as early as the 1760s, in ways that sound similar to the way it's celebrated today.  New York State's first St. Patrick's Day parade was staged on this date in 1762, and the first celebration of St. Patrick's Day in New York City itself was apparently held in 1766 at the "Crown and Thistle" tavern.  In 1780, no less a figure than General George Washington allowed his troops a holiday on March 17th, “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence."


On a barely related note, embedded below is a 30 second clip from The Simpsons about designated drivers on St. Patrick's Day.