Mother's Day can be a tad teary for those of us who have lost our moms.
But let's take heart. And a mimosa. I've got a tale that might cheer you up: the origin of Mother's Day.
Oh, mother -- what a story!
Did you know that the holiday wasn't devised by an American Greetings, 1-800-FLOWERS and Shari's Berries consortium?
Rather, it was started by a woman named Anna Jarvis in 1908, three years after the death of her mother. So see, Anna -- who never married or had children -- didn't establish the day as a reason to send her mother a cookie bouquet, treat her to a brunch buffet and then go for mani-pedis.
According to History.com, "After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908 she organized the first official Mother's Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, W.Va. That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother's Day event at one of Wanamaker's retail stores in Philadelphia." (Aww, Wanamaker's! I used to shop there as a kid with my mom and grandmothers, who were from Pennsylvania! Sniff! I'm going to need another mimosa!)
The site says Anna began writing a mother lode of letters to the press and politicians, pleading with them to acknowledge a day to celebrate mothers. Eventually, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a provision designating the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day.
She envisioned the occasion as something sweet, simple and sentimental, says History.com: "Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother's Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one's mother or attending church services."
She got a lot more than she bargained for. A lot more materialism.
The mother hen -- make that the mama bear -- of Mother's Day would become so embittered with the evolution of the event she founded that she devoted her final years condemning the commercial holiday, filing lawsuits against entities using the "Mothers Day" name, and trying to get it eliminated from existence.
Here are some assorted Anna gems from different sources:
"It wasn't enough for her to be the originator of Mother's Day. Jarvis wanted to own it, and she didn't want any outside forces corrupting her vision of what the day should be. She incorporated herself as the Mother's Day International Association, copyrighted her own photograph, and trademarked the Mother's Day Seal with a drawing of a carnation and the words "Mother's Day" (always singular possessive to distinguish from "Mothers' Day" impostors), "Second Sunday in May," and, of course, "Anna Jarvis Founder." -- Buzzfeed.com
Anna has been quoted as saying, "A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother -- and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment." -- various sources
"Anna Jarvis never had a 'gentleman suitor.' Thousands of pages of letters and journals were examined in preparation for a book on Jarvis and there was never so much as a mention of a romantic relationship of any sort. ... The belief is that she actually hated men." This is according to Olive Ricketts, executive director of the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum in Grafton, W.Va. -- HuffingtonPost.com
"Years after she founded Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis was dining at the Tea Room at Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia. She saw they were offering a 'Mother's Day Salad.' She ordered the salad and when it was served, she stood up, dumped it on the floor, left the money to pay for it, and walked out in a huff." -- from MentalFloss.com
"After Jarvis crashed a 1925 confectioners convention in Philadelphia, she was arrested for disturbing the peace. It didn't stop her. She spent the rest of her life, into the 1940s, trying to end Mother's Day. And she died penniless doing it." -- from Forbes.com
Whoa, mama! It seems the founder of Mother's Day had a disposition only a mother could love.
Happy Mother's Day! Everyone and her mother, email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 05/08/2016