7 surprising facts about Mother’s Day
9.5.2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
No, it wasn’t the Nazis who invented Mother’s Day, although this is often claimed. And florists only joined the game later on. So who did establish the tradition only to fight it shortly after? Here come the answer as well as other interesting facts about Mother’s Day.
Some people find it a nice family tradition, others a glorification of outdated role models. Or simply a big day for florists – ka-ching! In other words, Mother’s Day has always divided opinions. Funnily enough, the tradition originally had nothing to do with making money. In fact, it was about mothers’ rights and feminism.
1. The mother of Mother’s Day
In the 1860s, the US-American feminist Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis campaigned for a movement called Mothers Friendship Day. The meetings she held were a space where mothers shaken by the civil war could meet. These women also looked after wounded soldiers from both warring parties. It was only much later that Jarvis’ daughter succeeded in establishing Mother’s Day as it’s known today. Anna Maria Jarvis campaigned – not least in memory of her late mother – for an official day to honour mothers and wrote letters to politicians, business people and clergy. In 1908, the time had come: the US Congress decided to make Mother’s Day a national holiday that’s celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
2. Creator turns critic
In the 1920s, however, the creator herself wanted to abolish Mother’s Day. The commercialisation of the celebration didn’t sit well with Anna Maria Jarvis. She even tried to take legal action against the public holiday. In 1923, she was briefly jailed for disrupting a Mother’s Day celebration. «My greatest success is also my greatest defeat,» she’s said to have once told a reporter, according to the New York Times. In 1948, she died a blind, middle-aged and childless woman at age 84. One thing she never found out was that the costs for her care home had been covered by the same florists Jarvis despised so much because of the way they commercialised the celebration.
Source: Wikimedia
3. Florists bring Mother’s Day to Switzerland
In Switzerland, the youth organisation Cevi first attempted to introduce Mother’s Day in 1914, followed by the Salvation Army in 1917. However, the custom didn’t catch on and was initially limited to religious circles. The big breakthrough only happened after Germany pathed the way. The Association of German Flower Shop Owners successfully campaigned for Mother’s Day in 1923. Swiss florists felt inspired and, with the support of the press and radio, Mother’s Day was finally officially celebrated in Switzerland for the first time in 1930.
4. Mother’s Day not globally synchronised
While Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May in the USA, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, it's on the first Sunday in May in Spain and Portugal. In France, it’s on the last Sunday in May. At least usually. In 2023, the date was already taken by Pentecost and Mother’s Day was exceptionally moved to the first Sunday in June. In the UK, Mothering Sunday takes place three weeks before Easter. Norway’s gone completely rogue by celebrating mothers on the second Sunday in February. And Argentina went for the third Sunday in October. Even if there are international differences in terms of the date, almost every country celebrates Mother’s Day or an equivalent.
5. Nazi propaganda and mother swastikas
The Nazis used Mother’s Day for propaganda purposes and declared it a public holiday in 1933. From 1939, mothers with many children were awarded the Mother’s Cross, colloquially known as the rabbit cross, which was gifted on Mother’s Day. Mothers were awarded bronze for four or five children, silver for six or seven and gold for eight or more.
6. A billion-dollar business
Mother’s Day is one of the most important sales days for both the hospitality sector and the flower trade. According to trade association GastroSuisse’s statement made on request of Keystone SDA in 2016, (page in German), it’s twice as lucrative as other Sundays. The Swiss Florists’ Association says that on Mother’s Day, flower sales are three to eight times as high as on regular days and it’s the strongest single day of the year after Valentine’s Day. The German Retail Association’s prediction based on a representative survey (page in German) is that people in Germany will spend more than one billion euros on gifts for this year’s Mother’s Day, not including restaurants and gift vouchers. This is the equivalent of an average amount of 18.40 euros per head. Figures in the USA are expected to be even higher. The National Retail Federation is expecting expenditures of USD 33.5 billion, or USD 254.04 per capita.
Source: Shutterstock
7. Roses, tulips, carnations
62.3 per cent of all Mother’s Day gifts are expected to be flowers this year. At least that’s what the German Retail Association says. According to Fleurop (page in German), roses, lilies, gerberas and germini are the most popular cut flowers for Mother’s Day, at least in Switzerland. In the USA, carnations are the official Mother’s Day flower and a symbol of gratitude. Why? Because white carnations were Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis’ favourite. «The carnation doesn’t drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies,» the mother of Mother’s Day is said to have once said, «and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying.»
Sooner or later, all flowers will wilt. Unlike these alternative Mother’s Day gifts:
Header image: Shutterstock/4 PM production
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.