On the History of Mother's Day

Gorgeous flower bouquets change hands in May. Every second Sunday in the merry month, it's back again: Mother's Day. What a beautiful custom to put mothers' work at the center of attention on this day and to delight the main person of the day with a gift. Garden owners, as so often, have an advantage. They put together beautiful bouquets themselves. Be it a romantic version of white and purple lilac, a lush mixture of powerful peonies and bellflowers, or a botanical composition of colorful anemones. Yet, it is always a plant with great symbolism of love that wins the race on this day. Whether from one's own rose bed or from a specialized shop, the Queen of Flowers is presented most often, in deep red. Even those who opt for a non-plant gift will not want to forgo an addition of living greenery. A beautiful rose on the box of chocolates, a noble orchid with perfume, or a colorful spring bouquet with a highly individual gift—that always fits! But red and white carnations also play a role. Which one is it and why? And how did a day honoring the female parent come about anyway?

To find the origin of Mother's Day, we go back to the second half of the 19th century. There, we find an American named Ann Reeves Jarvis. She founded the "Mothers' Day Work Clubs." These were groups where mothers could get help for the good care of their offspring. But soon the Civil War broke out, and the clubs dedicated themselves to caring for wounded soldiers. They didn't ask who had fought for which side. In 1868, Jarvis founded "Mothers' Friendship Day," which focused on social assistance and peace. Yet her great desire to establish a day specifically for mothers remained unfulfilled.

But her daughter Anna Jarvis followed in her footsteps. Unmarried and childless her entire life, she launched an intensive campaign for the establishment of this day of honor. Countless letters were sent to newspapers and prominent politicians, in which she advocated for the idea. She referred to the holidays that commemorate the achievements of male citizens, e.g., Washington's Birthday. In parallel, there should also be a day that honored the merits of American women. She gave particular emphasis to this demand on the day of her mother's death in 1908. She enriched the church service with hundreds of carnations. In red and white, she had half a thousand of the flowers that the deceased had loved so much. The former were to honor the active mothers, the latter the deceased ones. Thus, the first Mother's Day was born. The wish was fully fulfilled in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson officially made Mother's Day a public holiday.

But the dedicated activist wasn't happy with it. Her intention had always been for the day to serve as a celebration of mothers within their families. A carnation was to adorn clothing to underscore awareness of maternal affection, naturally in red or white. She found a church service visit with family appropriate, and a loving letter to a distant mother, whom one couldn't visit, a given. But things turned out differently.

Although Jarvis had collaborated with many florists to achieve her goal, she soon felt the commercialization went much too far. Mother's Day became an economic force comparable to Christmas. And that's not what she had wanted. Just as she had once championed Mother's Day, she now fought against it for the rest of her life.

Indeed, it was also in Germany that florists heavily promoted Mother's Day in the early 1920s. Soon, the first Sunday in May became the "Day of Honor for German Mothers." Due to its strong emphasis during the Third Reich, it initially fell somewhat into disrepute after the war. Today, the second Sunday in May is the day when daughters and sons express gratitude for a mother's love with gifts. And despite all historical misunderstandings, that is a wonderful custom!