What don’t I know won’t hurt me – or will it?

This year Labor Day, September 2, 2019, celebrates the 125th universally as a national holiday. I did not know this until I did just a little research. I love history. But this holiday was never one of my favorites. But learning more about its history and its effect on my life has changed my views significantly.

Labor Day historical background can be traced to the effect of the industrial age. I remember studying stories as a child of the old industrial age in the 1760’s in England. That greatly affected the labor union struggle in England and then the United States in the early 1900’s. My great grandparents would have known firsthand what it was like. I did know 2 of my great grandparents as a child, but I really didn’t know how to ask them questions about history, so I received little information. My grandparents were the first to really benefit from having a Labor Day to celebrate.

I didn’t realize until years later what the big deal was that my grandparents were able to pay outright for their own car! That was a direct result of the Labor union struggle. A great celebration cause for their new American Labor Day weekend! One of the major benefits of Labor Day becoming a law was that it encouraged the people to be consumers. They knew they were celebrating the strength, prosperity and wellbeing of America.

I always liked work, so I didn’t understand at the time why someone would be so upset over another person working. I thought the same as others, that this was just the end of summer and the start of the school year. I really wasn’t too sure of why someone would want to celebrate school starting either! But then I was one of the few who really enjoyed school, and learning, so I didn’t pay it much mind.

Since then, I have become aware of the need of that change. People were working hard, long hours in the late 1800’s and had no time for rest and relaxation. I wondered how the Labor Day laws would apply to those of us who really want to work extra so we can earn extra money.

We had relatives in England who went through their own labor law troubles. They paved the way for their dependents to benefit from American Labor laws. On May 1st they celebrated their Labour Day holiday.

I loved reading about history, my favorite subject. But stories about the labor union struggle was always a dismal, foreboding, ominous story for me. I was happy to take the day off, but I so remember the old stories of hard-working hours and conditions, the children put to work, the inability to work to meet family needs. I was sad for them and never related it to me, I did not seem to have those struggles as a girl growing up.

The Holiday was initiated by the Labor Union in New York on September 5, 1882, and the first Labor Day parade tradition began. There were estimated to be about 10,000 to 20,000 men and women and they listened to a band that the two hundred marching Jewelers Union from Newark brought with them. The song they played was “When I First Put This Uniform On,” from Patience, an opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1884, it was made a workingman Holiday.

The holiday was made a national law by President Grover Cleveland in 1994, and it celebrates the social and improved economy of America due to the labor movement efforts. Each of the states had to enact their own form of the law and the struggle continued until the 1930’s.

The thought of Labor Day Weekend fills me with dread for the many accidents that may happen. But it also fills me with a sense of inspiration for the many families and co-workers that gather together, just to relax. For no reason at all really, in my view of it.

The older southern relatives in this picture, were the ones who were involved in the decision-making labor union laws. the children were the first generation to benefit from the new law. I’m sure there was a great variety of reaction and interest in this newly made status, most of the effect would not be seen until future generations.

So, I wish you a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!

Credits for the information gleaned from my research is found on the Eclectic Economist web site here: https://theconversation.com/have-we-forgotten-the-true-meaning-of-labor-day-64526#republish. I also obtained research information from the Department of Labor website on their history about Labor Day. (dol.gov/general/laborday/history-daze).