8 Things I Did Not Know About Mother's Day

1. The Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks all celebrated a mother deity or goddess. In the 1600s, the UK celebrated Mothering Day but the pilgrims abandoned the holiday when they came to America.
2. On May 10, 1908, the first official Mother’s Day service was held at St Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. It was organized by Anna Jarvis to honor her mother's service to the church where she had taught classes for 20 years.
3. Anna Jarvis recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day in 1912.
4. St Andrews is now called International Mother’s Day Shrine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its mission is to promote the “Spirit of Motherhood” through education. It is open for tours and weddings.
5. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the National Observance of Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May.
6. While most countries celebrate Mother’s Day on the same day as the US, several other countries celebrate at other times of the year. The earliest celebration each year is in Norway on February 13th. The latest celebration each year is in Indonesia on December 22nd.
7. The official flower for Mother’s Day is the carnation. Red for mothers still living and white for mothers who have passed away. These flowers were used during the first service because the carnation was Anna’s mother’s favorite flower.
8. Anna Jarvis spent the rest of her days unsuccessfully fighting against the commercialization of Mother’s Day. This year, the National Retail Foundation expects related spending in the US to surpass $16 billion with almost 2 billion spent on flowers.

Sources:

www.mothersdayshrine.com

www.mothersdaycentral.com

www.nrf.com