Mother’s Day Turns 99 This Year

Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday. In this country it’s always observed on the second Sunday in May. It was back in the late 1800s when Julia Ward Howe came up with the idea for what she called a “Mother’s Day for Peace” in honor of all mothers. It was mostly a regional thing. Some parts of the country and some states began to adopt it, but it wasn’t until 1908 when Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia started campaigning to make Mother’s Day a nationally recognized observance.

By 1912 she had trademarked the phrases “2nd Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”. And something Clay and I were discussing earlier this week – which is the proper way to spell it? Where do you put the apostrophe or do you use one at all?

Jarvis was very specific about it. She said it should be Mother’s Day – singular possessive with the intent that each individual mother be honored by their own family. But I think it’s grown to beyond what she intended because we honor all mothers, plus grandmothers and great grandmothers and other motherly figures in our lives.

Mothers’ Day – plural possessive and Mothers Day – plural non-possessive are also permitted. So really you can spell it anyway you want and you can recognize anyone you want.

It was on this day in 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation establishing the first annual national Mother's Day.

Earlier this week we learned a mother's annual salary would be $508-thousand. A caller explained why.