The budding
generations
Will see their rosy babies flower
Like briars in the spring.
It will be the season of roses...
That's the people's future.
- Eugene Pottier
In the 1880s a surge in growth of the American labor movement
led to the creation of two workers’ holidays, Labor Day and May
Day. May Day soon spread abroad, as European unions and
socialist groups adopted it as an occasion to display their
strength. Eventually the holiday came to be celebrated in almost
every part of the world. The political tone of Labor Day
moderated as it evolved in relation to the rival holiday of May
Day. In the years that followed, May Day became an occasion for
protesting the arrests of socialists, anarchists, and unionists
following the Haymarket explosion, as well as for continuing to
push for shorter hours.
May Day jumped abroad, when in 1889 an International Socialist
Convention convened in Paris called for demonstrations on May 1st of the
following year, leading to the rapid spread of May Day celebrations
across Europe. Especially before the Haymarket riots, May Day events in
a few cities rivaled the size of Labor Day events. But as the twentieth
century unfolded, May Day generally did not catch on, leaving Labor Day
as the main or only workers’ holiday.
May Day began as a Spring festival long ago. People gathered together on
the first day of May to celebrate the coming of Summer. There are a lot
of different customs that have been a part of May Day festivities. Some
people would gather flowers and put them by their doors and windows to
keep out troublesome fairies. Some people would put out their old hearth
fires and gather with the people in their village to start a new fire to
take home. Cutting down a tree and putting up a Maypole in the middle of
a village is another popular custom. Ribbons are attached to the tree
and are woven together by dancers. One more popular custom is filling
May Baskets with flowers and other goodies to give to friends and loved
ones. Some people still celebrate the pagan festival of Beltaine on the
first of May. Many of the old customs are part of this celebration.
May Day celebrates Spring, flowers and harvest. Send warm wishes on this
special occasion to your friends, acquaintances, family.
