Mike Parker: Mother’s Day … and the rest of the story

Multiplied thousands – perhaps millions – across this country heard Mother’s Day messages this past Sunday. The story of Mother’s Day usually focuses on Anna Jarvis. Following her mother’s death in 1905, Jarvis had the idea of establishing a day to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children.

According to an article on History.com, she gained financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker. In May 1908, she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. The observance drew thousands of people to a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia, as well.

Anna Jarvis, who remained unmarried and childless her whole life, fought to see her holiday added to the national calendar. One argument she used was that American holidays were biased toward male achievements. She began a letter-writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.

Her determined efforts paid off. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure that made each second Sunday in May officially Mother’s Day in the United States.

Noted radio commentator Paul Harvey had a segment of “The Paul Harvey Show” titled “The Rest of the Story.” Harvey would begin with a piece of history most Americans knew. Then he would follow up with a twist on that story most people did not know. The Anna Jarvis story had just such a twist. Here is the “Rest of the Story.”

 Anna Jarvis envisioned Mother’s Day as a deeply family-oriented observance. Her version of Mother’s Day involved people wearing a white carnation in honor of their mothers, and visiting their mothers or attending church services. Before long, Mother’s Day had become commercialized in a way she found disgusting. Once Mother’s Day became a national holiday, florists, card companies, and other merchants capitalized on its popularity.

Anna Jarvis eventually began a campaign against Mother’s Day profiteers. She spoke out against confectioners, florists, and even charities that exploited the holiday she fought to establish. She filed countless lawsuits against groups that had used the name “Mother’s Day.”

Eventually, she spent most of her wealth on legal fees. By the time of her death in 1948, Anna Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether. She even lobbied the government to have it removed from the American calendar. Of course, her efforts failed.

Mother’s Day seems ingrained in our psyche. Americans make more phone calls on Mother’s Day than at any other time of the year. Telephone traffic is 37 percent higher on this holiday. In 2018, total retail spending for Mother’s Day exceeded $23 billion. Some 86 percent of Americans celebrated Mother’s Day in 2018, and average spending per mother amounted to $180.

Honoring mothers has a long tradition around the world. We have all heard the commandment that says, “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land the Lord God has given you.”  A Chinese proverb says: “Respect for one’s parents is the highest duty of civil life.”

The ancient Greeks and Romans had celebrations of mothers and motherhood. They held festivals to honor the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. An early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday” honored mothers.

While I doubt we will ever rid Mother’s Day of its commercial side, all of us should make a genuine effort to focus on our mothers and celebrate them with heartfelt gratitude for what they have done for us.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.