The True Spirit & History of Mother’s Day
We see you, Mom
And this one goes out to you!
Moms make the world go round. From bringing life into the world, to juggling motherhood with everything else, to being your Number One Fan every day of the year, moms are the real world superheroes who have more than earned a day of proper appreciation!
This year, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 10th. Much like every other holiday on the calendar, the announcements start early. Your social media feeds and TV commercials are probably full of advertisements for The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift. You can’t miss it.
But, much like the true meaning of Christmas, sometimes the real spirit of Mother’s Day gets a little lost in the advertisement sauce.
So, what’s the deal with Mother’s Day, and how can you best celebrate your mom?
At the Root of the Mother’s Day Tree
If you’re after the true spirit of Mother’s Day, then the best way to find it is to trace it back to its origins… which aren’t so far away as you might expect!
It began with Typhoid fever.
In 1850s West Virginia lived Ann Reeves Jarvis. She was young and pregnant with her sixth child in the middle of the Appalachian typhoid fever epidemic, and she would go on to have more than a dozen children. Tragically, she’d lose most of her babies to disease, namely measles, diphtheria, and typhoid fever – which was a huge epidemic at this time in Appalachia.
Typhoid is in the same family of bacteria as a disease you might be more well acquainted with: Salmonella. In fact, typhoid fever’s latin name is Salmonella Typhi. Much like the outbreaks of Salmonella that you hear about on the news today, Typhoid fever was transmitted through contaminated water and food supplies, especially in areas with poor sanitation due to lacking infrastructure for wastewater treatment.
Salmonella as we know it today isn’t something we think of as life-threatening, because we have antibiotics and vaccines to thank for effective treatment. But back in 1858, Salmonella Typhi could be and often was a death sentence. Left untreated, Typhoid fever’s mortality rate was 20%, or 1 in 5. Children, unfortunately, were a significant portion of these deaths.
It was during her sixth pregnancy that Ann Reeves Jarvis devoted her time and energy to creating “Mothers Work Clubs,” where the women of her neck of the woods got together to pick up trash and clear waste from the streets. With the help of her brother (a doctor), she organized seminars to educate mothers in best hygiene and sanitation practices to reduce the spread of the disease to children in the home. Thanks to her efforts and the efforts of the women around her, Ann Reeves Jarvis made a difference, both for her family and for her community.
Ann Reeves Jarvis.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.
One Woman, Unforgettable Impact
Ann Reeves Jarvis’ “Mothers Day Work Clubs” were just the beginning. She was a loud suffragette, and she also led women’s war brigades during the Civil War, where she preached neutral aid to soldiers.
During one of the most divisive struggles in American history, Ann Reeves Jarvis stressed the critical importance of coming together. The war brigades offered first aid services, among many others services, to wounded soldiers – with a continued emphasis on proper sanitation and hygiene practices to reduce the risk of typhoid fever and other infections.
A National Family Legacy
Many initiatives to celebrate the contributions of women and mothers were started in the post-Civil War era, but none fully took root… until Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis (we’ll call her Mother Jarvis). In honor of all of her mother’s work and impact, Ann held a memorial service at the church where Mother Jarvis hosted her seminars.
A year later, on May 10, Anna held yet another day of remembrance and celebration of the mothers who worked tirelessly alongside Mother Jarvis. The idea caught fire, and soon enough, this day of Mothers became an annual tradition. Anna spearheaded a political campaign to enshrine Mother’s Day – named in the singular possessive form in direct acknowledgement of Mother Jarvis – as a quintessential American holiday.
Anna chose the second Sunday in May, the anniversary of Mother Jarvis’ passing, for its calendar stamp. She also selected white carnations as the official flower for the day, with white being the universal color of peace. Anna’s efforts made their way to President Woodrow Wilson’s desk, where he officially cemented the holiday in 1914.
Anna Jarvis
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.
Change & The True Spirit of Mother’s Day
On a personal note, Anna Jarvis quickly condemned the commercialization of Mother’s Day. She saw the way stores and businesses treated the holiday as something merely to boost sales. This was NOT how she wanted her mother’s legacy or the legacy of mothers as a whole to be commemorated. She felt that things got so out of hand that she started a petition in the early 1940s to have the holiday rescinded. Despite her wishes, the petition failed.
On some level, we can all relate to her frustrations. Christmas comes now in September to big box stores. Black Friday is a sport all on its own. Do we really need to say anything about Valentine’s Day?
How did Anna believe in celebrating Mother’s Day?
In a couple of words: simply and sincerely.
Mother’s Day, to Anna, was a day of rest and appreciation for mothers. Before the flowers and pre-scripted greeting cards, Anna prioritized hand-written letters, full of love and adoration for mothers.
The true spirit of Mother’s Day was simply acknowledging the incredible fortitude and endless love that mothers offer selflessly to their families and neighbors, and to express gratitude for their unyielding strength and perseverance.
Much of the labor performed by moms goes unpaid, unnoticed, and unrecognized most days of the year, but we all benefit from the efforts of moms year round. She receives no 401k, no paid time off, no health insurances, or any other “benefits” for her work. And yet, she shows up: your loudest cheerleader, your shoulder to cry on, your super problem solver, giver of countless hugs, and a million other hats.
For that, she deserves the hand written letter, the white carnations, the breakfast in bed, and the world in her hand. However you choose to celebrate this year, Anna and Mother Jarvis would be most proud of you for holding your mom’s hand and saying “I see you, and I appreciate all that you do, Mom.” Everything else is icing on the cake (and mom DEFINITELY deserves that too!).
A Little Closer to Home
The Magnolia Company is a family business, so celebrating Mother’s Day sits particularly close to home for us. We’re not just celebrating a holiday – we’re cherishing a legacy of family traditions and the incredible mothers who shaped them. Julie, our head flower enthusiast and founder, recalls one of her favorite life lessons she learned from her mother.
“My mom instilled in me the importance of letter writing. I’ve been writing handwritten notes since I was a child.”
Handwriting is the closest you’ll ever come to sharing a piece of your soul with another person; thoughts that live within the walls of your mind travel through your body to your fingertips, which carefully craft them into something uniquely tangible that you can share with another person. We take writing for granted in this digital age, but the intimacy of a handwritten note will never go out of style.
“One thing my mother told me about thank you notes… it’s never too late to write one,” says Julie. “That always stuck with me.”
Julie, now a grandmother, imparted the same lesson onto her children, and she looks forward to sharing it with her grandchildren as they grow up.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!