guest blogger on labor day and a random recollection from me

 

Labor Day, that was the last bit of summer, way back when I was a kiddo.  It was the last day to go to the playground, the swimming pool, and certainly the last picnic, complete with well burnt hot dogs, mountains of potato salad, several bottles of pop and a skinned knee from trying to play softball with the older kids.  and s'mores after dark.   When the big family picnic broke up that was the end of summer, and  on the long ride home in the darkness, I really tried not to think of going back to school.   The meaning of the day was lost on me, then.

 

Something to do with going to work, because my Dad had the day off and he almost never had a day off, just about every store was closed, and the parking lots  for the factory workers were empty.  The store windows in the towns we went thru were all lit up, that was a treat too see, our little General Store was only lit up during hunting season and  at Christmas.  It also reminded me that school would start soon and I had to trade my  shorts and top for a school dress, and worse yet wear those stupid little white ankle socks and shoes. 

We stopped for ice cream and a souvenir  sometime, souvenir shops were an absolute wonder land to a kid like me.  I bought a book about rocks.  don't know what my siblings
bought.

 
Years  rolled on and I learned a little about  alot of things, including having a job.  And to be perfectly honest, this image inspired me to write this post.

It looks, for all the world, like one of those depression Era movie posters.  With the very happiest of endings where hard work and good neighbors save the family farm, save the day,and it should be that way. 

OK, but I gotta go back to watching old,old movies.  However I was wondering about the origins of this day and so I  looked it up, so please read on.

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satoday.com

How did Labor Day begin? What to know about the celebration of the American worker

4 minutes

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• For many Americans, Labor Day means the end of summer and beginning of the school year.
• But the holiday really celebrates the social and economic achievements of American workers.
• Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day in the late 19th century.

Labor Day for many Americans is a three-day weekend that marks the end of the summer and the start of the school year.

Nowadays, the holiday might be celebrated with anything from swimming at a beach or pool, grilling, or watching the first college football games of the season. But, how did the holiday come about?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the holiday is observed the first Monday in September to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

When did Labor Day become a federal holiday? 

Before it became a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states.

Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887, and that year four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed similar laws. 

The Labor Department says by 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday, and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law.

How did Labor Day start?

The Labor Department says it's not entirely clear who is the founder of Labor Day, but two workers can make a solid claim to its origins.

According to the Labor Department's website, some records show that in 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a day for a "general holiday for the laboring classes" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged.

Many believe that machinist Matthew Maguire, not McGuire, founded the holiday.

Recent research seems to support the contention that Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882, while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

According to the New Jersey Historical Society, after President Cleveland signed the law to create a national Labor Day, the Paterson Morning Call published an opinion piece stating that "the souvenir pen should go to Alderman Matthew Maguire of this city, who is the undisputed author of Labor Day as a holiday."

Perhaps showing there were no hard feelings, both Maguire and McGuire attended the country’s first Labor Day parade in New York City that year.

Editor's note: A version of this story was first published in 2021.