Ever wondered why carnations are the favoured flowers to give to mothers on the day specially dedicated to them? Well, I did wonder after I got one last Sunday from a cute little girl. Let me tell you what I found out about how all this got started:
In 1097, a lady by the name of Anna Jarvis held a ceremony to honour her late mother. Anna's mother had died two years earlier. Her mother had tried to establish Mother's Friendship Days as a way of dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War. After her mother's death, Anna Jarvis began a campaign to create a national holiday to honour mothers. She and her supporters wrote to ministers, businessmen and politicians, and they were successful in their efforts.
In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize the new holiday, and the nation followed in 1914 when President Wilson declared the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day. Jarvis used white carnations as a symbol for mothers, because carnations represented sweetness, purity and the endurance of mother love. Today, white carnations represent a mother who has died, while red carnations represent a living mother.
Unfortunately, Jarvis became bitter over the commercialization of the holiday. She filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother's Day event and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a mother's convention where white carnations were being sold. Jarvis never married and never had children. She died in 1948.
In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize the new holiday, and the nation followed in 1914 when President Wilson declared the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day. Jarvis used white carnations as a symbol for mothers, because carnations represented sweetness, purity and the endurance of mother love. Today, white carnations represent a mother who has died, while red carnations represent a living mother.
Unfortunately, Jarvis became bitter over the commercialization of the holiday. She filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother's Day event and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a mother's convention where white carnations were being sold. Jarvis never married and never had children. She died in 1948.
No comments:
Post a Comment