While I was growing up and in school Labor Day was a sad time for me. It marked the very beginning of the school year. Also the last two weeks in August was vacation time when we usually went to Atlantic City. Being a Pittsburger, we didn't have an ocean, and that was a really big treat for us. Just the smell, the fragrance of the ocean was such a treat...salty water smell.
A really old custom eschewed wearing white after Labor Day. The custom is rooted in nothing more than popular fashion etiquette.[ In actuality, the etiquette originally stated that white shoes were the taboo while white or "winter white" clothes were acceptable This custom is fading from popularity as it continues to be questioned and challenged, particularly by leaders in the fashion world. "Fashion magazines are jumping on this growing trend, calling people who 'dare' to wear white after Labor Day innovative, creative, and bold
Being as I live in Florida, this is really great news for me...don't have to put away the white slacks or white sandals.
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday in September. The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man". It is still celebrated mainly as a day of rest and marks the symbolic end of summer for many. Labor Day became a national holiday by Act of Congress in 1894.
This is a poem that I had to learn to memorize in the 7th grade and it stayed with me all these many years.
Work!
Thank God for the swing of it,
For the clamoring, hammering ring of it,
Passion and labor daily hurled
On the mighty anvils of the world,
Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it?
And what is so huge as the aim of it?
Thundering on through dearth and doubt,
Calling the plan of the Maker out
Work, the Titan: Work, the friend,
Shaping the earth to a glorious end,
Draining the swamps and blasting the hills,
Doing whatever the Spirit wills
Rending a continent apart,
Work
To answer the dream of the Master heart,
Thank God for a world where none may shirk
Thank God for the splendor of work!
2 comments:
I remember Labor Day also as being
the last "hurrah" before school
started. The last two weeks of August including Labor Day weekend
were also the weeks my parents had
vacation so we enjoyed our trip to
the Jersey shore as a family..My
mother loved the beach, My dad liked the mountains..Usually we would go every other year to the
beach and the mountains. This way
everyone was happy. Living in Florida I don't see the white shoe/
white pant fashion thing as important..I wear them all year
long down here. But I know I would
feel out of place wearing white shoes in New York after Labor Day.
Oh Pat, I just love reading your comments. You make my day. One thing I do recall is that my mother, my sister, my aunt and I went to Atlantic City. My father did not get to go. The unions were not strong enough then. He wasn't entitled to a vacation...then he became very action in the AFOL Labor Union...and things began to change. I remember I cried when he took us to the train station and didn't come with us. It was a heartbreaker. Happy Labor Day!
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