The History Of Mother's Day

We all probably assume that Mother's Day was created up by one of the large printed cards manufactures, of flower delivery companies, but to find the origins we have to go way back in time.

The earliest recorded celebration of 'mothers' date back to the spring festival that the ancient Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings the Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. It is believed that Christians celebrated a festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Jesus.

In the United Kingdom this holiday began to include all mothers and was re named as Mothering Sunday. Those working away would return to their homes on Mothering Sunday with small gifts, or mothering cakes for their mothers. Whole families attended church together and there was a dinner of roast lamb, or veal, at which mother was treated as queen for the day and everything was done to make her happy.

The custom of Mothering Sunday became more widespread during the 19th century. The day was celebrated with a festive mood and the prominent dish was called furmety. It was a dish of wheat grains boiled in sweet milk, sugared and spiced. In recent times as society has evolved it is now simply referred to as Mother's Day.

The mothering cake also went by the name of Simnel cake. This was a very rich fruit cake, and the Lenten fast dictated that it must keep until Easter. First boiled in water and then baked, it sometimes had an almond icing at other times the crust was of flour and water, coloured with saffron.

In the United States, Mother's Day can be traced for over 150 years. Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of the poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best served by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day." The idea was so good that it did not take long to be spread all over the land. The governor of West Virginia issued the first Mother's Day proclamation in 1910 and Oklahoma celebrated it in that same year. By 1911, there was not a state in the Union that did not have its own observances for Mother's Day.

After Anna's death her daughter, also called Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out white carnations, her mother's favorite flower. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

People observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by giving cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became angry as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States and has become one of the years biggest celebrations.

Mother's day is a wonderful way of thanking your Mother for all she has done for you. Many people show their thanks in different ways with cards and gifts, chocolates, flowers, breakfast in bed, days out, weekends away. Why not try something new this year and send a Mother's Day E card, there are many wonderful animated e cards which I am sure any mother would love to receive! But don't forget to get her lots of gifts too!