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Posted September 3, 2010
"LABOR DAY'S TRUE MEANING"
Growing up in the South, I always thought Labor Day was a marker for the last big summer cookout and swim - the date when one had to closet white gloves, summer white clothing, handbags, and shoes.
Then later, when I left the nest and ventured into the work place, I felt for sure it was because I truly labored to put food on the table.
After my first child, I had a major revelation. That holiday had been gifted to the American women because we deserved a restful vacation strictly for our populating-the-earth efforts.
According to Wickipedia, I learned the following is why we celebrate the holiday:
"The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday."
I'm so relieved to finally know the true meaning of the Labor Day celebration. Guess this means I can now feel free to keep toting that favorite straw handbag my kids gave me for my birthday - the one I dubbed "The Peerless Pocketbook" - with white trim and pockets that will hold my journal, a digital camera, a flip camera, billfold, couple of lipsticks, four vicunas, three alpacas, two goats, a one-hump camel, and a chihuahua.
At least until Thanksgiving.