Labor Day and other interesting things

Well, as you all are probably aware, I messed up on my days at the beginning of this week and I have yet to get re-calibrated. I was going to bring more motivational tips up, but realized that with tomorrow being Friday, you have more than enough motivation to make it the remainder of the week.

That being said, lets have some more fun. Since this upcoming Monday is Labor Day, I thought it might be interesting to cover some more facts about the origins of Labor Day and any other interesting things regarding this holiday.

Labor Day is currently celebrated in the United States as the first Monday in September. It was designed to celebrate the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of America.

It was first celebrated on September 5, 1882. On that day, some 10,000 workers assembled in New York City to participate in America's first Labor Day parade. The participants marched from City Hall, past the reviewing stands on Union Square, and then turned uptown to 42nd Street. At the end of the parade, the workers and their families gathered in Wendel's Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York’s Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions. Debate continues to this day as to who originated the idea of a workers' holiday, but it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions.

These celebrations in New York then spread across the country. It was the State of Oregon that became the first state to grant legal status to this holiday. In 1894, Congress passed legislation making Labor Day a national holiday.

Believe it or not, over 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Depending on where you research, some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co founder of the American Federation of Labor, first suggested a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

Labor Day has also been unofficially designated the end of summer. In some fashion circles, after Labor Day you can no longer wear white (shoes, purses, clothes) except for weddings.

Hopefully you all will partake of this long weekend, the last of the summer holidays and have fun. For many, this weekend represents the last "official" time for backyard barbeque's, summer clothes and the end of summer vacation from school. For others, this holiday could allow them to finish chores that were put off all summer long. For me, it will be a time to relax and enjoy some much-needed time off.

However you spend your Labor Day and weekend prior, have a great time and we will chat again on TUESDAY...yup, Monday is a HOLIDAY. Enjoy

Until Tuesday...