Our modern celebration of "Mother's Day" has its roots in the post-Civil War peace and reconciliation movements. Mothers of both Union and Confederate soldiers came together for "Mother's Work Days" in a divided West Virginia town in the 1860s, thanks to the initiative of activist Ann Reeves Jarvis.
Origin of Mothers days:-
But Mother's Day didn't become a commercial holiday until 1908, when the John Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia sponsored a service honouring mothers in its auditorium. This was in response to Anna Jarvis, Jarvis's daughter, who wanted to honour her own mother by making Mother's Day a national holiday.
Mother's Day quickly gained popularity, largely due to this affiliation with shops who saw significant profit possibilities in the occasion. President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in remembrance of "that tender, gentle army, the mothers of America." In 1909, 45 states commemorated the day.
Mothering Sunday, an early Christian celebration, is the most obvious modern antecedent of Mother's Day. Mothers and motherhood were celebrated by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who hosted festivals honouring the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele.
Mothering Sunday became a more secular festival throughout time, and kids started giving their moms flowers and other small gifts as a way to show them how much they appreciated them. After a period of decline in popularity, this tradition merged with American Mother's Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
This holiday, which fell on the fourth Sunday of Lent and was formerly a significant custom in the UK and other areas of Europe, commemorated the return of the faithful to their "mother church," or the primary church close to their house, for a special service.
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