“Labor is the source from which nearly all, if not all of human comfort and necessities are drawn.” – Abraham Lincoln.
The first unofficial Labor Day was celebrated on a Tuesday (not a Monday)….September 5, 1882….when 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to Union Square in New York in the first parade to recognize the contributions of the American worker. It almost didn’t happen.
No Music
Grand Marshall, William McCabe, was ready to march. But there was no music…. until 200 members of the Jewelers Union arrived by ferry with a band playing, When I First Put the Uniform On (Gilbert & Sullivan).
12 years later, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law on June 28, 1894. Years of poor working conditions ended with the deaths of dozens of people in riots following the American Railroad Union strike on June 26, 1894 that crippled transportation in the nation. A workingman’s holiday to celebrate the American worker was born.
Today, Labor Day (celebrated on the 1st Monday of each September), has become more of a time of family celebration with picnics and BBQ’s, thoughts of returning to school, the start of college football, and Labor Day sales.
It should also be a day for each of us to remember that all jobs, no matter how big or small, how menial or consequential, are important and worthy of our respect and thanks.
And maybe it’s a great day to thank and celebrate those companies that make their products right here in the good old U.S.A. with American workers. Companies like Airstream, Budweiser beer, Crayola crayons, Harley-Davidson, Hershey chocolate, Jack Daniel’s whiskey, KitchenAid mixers, Weber grills, Gibson guitars, Wilson footballs, Fiesta ware, Stetson hats (just a partial list). And time to celebrate and show kindness to those American small businesses and their staff who provide our human comfort and necessities.
I’ll be out and about on Monday. Maybe pizza at our local Bill’s pizza. Time to thank them for giving me a great place to go for lunch.
Where will you be this Monday?
Happy Labor Day.
May your week be filled with kindness. 💜
Heather Johnston Brebaugh
The First Labor Day Parade