Happy Labor Day! What is the real meaning behind this end-of-summer holiday you ask. According to the United States Department of Labor, it is a creation of the Labor Movement of 1882 in New York City and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the American Workers.
The first Labor Day was actually celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. In 1884, the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday to urge other cities in America to follow the example of New York and celebrate the working men’s holiday. It is reported that there was a lot of beer associated with this event!
President Grover Cleveland signed an Act in 1894 establishing a Federal Legal Holiday for Labor Day. (Most states had already done so by this time.)
Between Memorial Day and Labor day, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council reports that Americans will eat 7 billion hotdogs!
Labor Day marks the official end of summer, which marks the end of hot dog season and no more wearing white until Spring. What??? No more white??? Yes, it is an old tradition that dates back to the late Victorian era whereby it is a fashion disaster to wear white after the summer official ended. White indicated that you were still in vacation mode at your summer cottage. The tradition is really not followed any more – maybe because we don’t vacation all summer at our summer cottages any more. I’ll keep that in mind when I need a vacation in January – look for the lady in white!!