With Sunday marking Mother’s Day, it seemed appropriate to use New Jersey’s newspapers to take a look at the history of this special day. Although similar holidays and events have occurred at various times and places throughout history, the modern Mother’s Day holiday in the United States can be traced back to Anna Jarvis. After holding the first Mother’s Day service in 1907, she led a campaign that saw states rapidly adopt the holiday and which culminated with the celebration being declared a national holiday by Woodrow Wilson in 1914.
The initial idea of the holiday was simple, calling for observers to wear a white carnation and honor their mother. People were encouraged to spend time with their mother and, at the very least, share thoughtful, personal sentiments with them in their honor.
While this is obviously an aspect of the holiday today as well, it is just as much about giving greeting cards, flowers, and other gifts these days. This commercialization of the holiday is not only a modern occurrence; in fact, it was not long after the holiday had been spread nationwide that it took on its modern expectations. Newspaper advertisements printed near the holiday highlight the early commercialization of Mother’s Day.
Unsurprisingly, there were those who were displeased with the crass commercialization of the holiday, none more so than Anna Jarvis herself. Jarvis felt the money-making attempts tied to the holiday undermined the sincerity with which it was supposed to be celebrated, and she devoted much time to fighting against them. An early example of this can be seen in an article from the April 29, 1922 Perth Amboy Evening News, where Jarvis expressed support for Mother’s Day organizations selling badges with white carnations printed on them, which would have their profits donated to charitable causes and which were to be worn instead of flowers themselves. Another example of this can be seen in an May 12, 1923 Perth Amboy Evening News article. The article records Jarvis’s wish that Mother’s Day be celebrated “in spirit, not in mere ostentation.” Instead of wasting money on thoughtless gifts for mom, Jarvis encouraged celebrators to “Go home and see her if you are away in another town. Take her some joy. If you can’t do that, write her a special delivery letter or telegram.”
Unfortunately, these efforts to de-commercialize the holiday were not very successful, as is made evident by the way it is still celebrated today. Regrettably for Jarvis, the holiday she had helped spread around the nation had drifted from her vision for it, and she even spent her later years trying to do away with it.
(Contributed by Tristan Smith)
Sources:
“Mother’s Day.” Britannica, December 4, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mothers-Day.