Monday, May 11, 2009

Mother's Day

Did you celebrate Mother's Day today?
Do you know the origin of this day?
Mother's Day in USA is not the same as Mothering Sunday in the UK. Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the 4th Sunday of lent in honour of Mary, the mother of Christ, it was initially a Christian holiday until another religious order included all mothers in this celebration and that's how it was called Mothering Sunday.
Mother's Day in USA was officially proclaimed a national holiday by president Woodrow Wilson in 1914 in honour of mothers.  This resulted from a movement by Anna Jarvis (1864 - 1948), a school teacher from Philadelphia, who wanted to set up a national mother's day in honour of her mother.
Here's something interesting about Mother's Day in the US.......
It is one of the most commercially successful US occasions.
It is the most popular day for dining out in the US according to the National Restaurant Association.  Telephone lines are the busiest on this day.  Business research shows Americans will spend about $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on gifts like spa treatments and $68 million on greetings cards!  Mother's Day will generate 7.8% of the US jewelry industry's annual income.  Not bad eh?  

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