by Valerie Green –
May 1 (May Day) ushers in the fifth month on our modern-day calendar. Various May Day festivities were once a highlight in every village throughout the United Kingdom. Today we tend to connect just two special holiday celebrations with the month of May: Victoria Day and Mothers’ Day.
Victoria Day was first celebrated in England to honour the birthday of Queen Victoria who was born on May 24, 1819. Victoria came to the English throne at the age of 18 and ruled from 1837 until her death in 1901. The monarch’s birthday became an official holiday in Canada in the year 1845. In 1952, the holiday was moved to the Monday preceding May 24 and today, Canada is the only country that celebrates the May 24 weekend.
In the year 1896, the Victoria Day holiday weekend was marred by the catastrophic collapse of the Point Ellice Bridge here in Victoria, an event which sent 55 people to their deaths in the waters of the Gorge. That day has remained a tragic one in Victoria’s history.
Here, however, are some happier facts about the Queen after whom Victoria Day is named. It is believed that Queen Victoria was the one who started the trend for women to be married in white wedding dresses. Victoria herself had married her first cousin, Prince Albert, on February 10, 1840, and subsequently gave birth to nine children who produced 34 grandchildren for her.
Which brings me to the second special May celebration – Mother’s Day. This event is celebrated at different times throughout the world. For instance, the United Kingdom celebrates it on the fourth Sunday of Lent (in March); Norway on the second Sunday of February and Egypt on the first day of spring. In the Philippines and in Japan Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Here in Canada, we celebrate Mother’s Day on the first Sunday of May every year.
Through the years, Mother’s Day has become one of the most popular holidays of the year and here are a few trivia facts to prove it. In 1934 there was a stamp issued to commemorate the holiday. For the restaurant industry, Mother’s Day has become one of the busiest days of the year. Carnations are the traditional flower for Mother’s Day and the florist industry thrives on this day. Statistics show that over $2 billion is spent on flowers every year.
In the year 2009, it was estimated that there were around four million births alone and one story goes that a woman in Russia gave birth to 69 children over the course of her 27 pregnancies! A mammoth feat.
Mother’s Day is also the most popular day to call your mother and in the year 2011 there were apparently over 122 million phone calls made throughout the world.
Today there are an estimated 1.7 billion mothers worldwide and apparently the average age of first-time mothers is around 25 years old, despite the current trend of women delaying motherhood until their 30s.
May – a joyous month of celebrations and the beginning of summer!
Valerie Green is an author/historian and can be reached at valgee@shaw.ca.
