Mother's Day
Mother’s Day origins, gift giving traditions, and symbolism.
Gift Certificates and Gift Cards
Today the idea of a gift certificate is nothing groundbreaking. However, in the 1930’s, the gift certificate was a revolutionary tool for consumers. It alleviated fears of getting the wrong gift, but avoided the impersonal stigma of giving cash. The process of obtaining the card has remained essentially unchanged. The giver would browse stores around... »
Mother’s and Father’s Day in Japan
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were imported from the United States and took hold in the 1970’s. Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May and is more prominent than Father’s Day. Mother’s usually receive red carnations, while white carnations are offered at Buddhist altars on behalf of mothers that have past... »
Mother’s Day, like our culture, is evolving
Gifts aren’t just being given to mothers, but also to important women in our lives. Mother’s day is approaching, and as you consider your gift options, from cards to jewelry, you may also want to include some of the other generous, caring, older role models in your life. Our long-distance, long-lived, multi-family collage of... »
How Mother’s Day is the mother of other commercial holidays
The success of the Mother’s Day model is responsible for other American holidays, including Secretaries’ Day and Father’s Day. This also reveals a critical component of the American Holiday in the 20th century: many new holidays were added through the sheer force of marketing and advertising campaigns. This is not to say that Anna... »
How Mother’s Day Was Born
Who can we thank for the tradition of Mother’s Day in the United States? The answer is Anna Jarvis, a practicing Methodist, who invented the holiday in 1908. Anna Jarvis intended the event to be “‘a holy day,’ a Sabbath celebration of maternal love and sacrifice, ‘not as a holiday subject to various ‘trade... »