In recent years, people seem to have decided that summer begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. It’s just hard for some people to leave things alone — seems to me the calendar runs pretty good all by itself. So even though some people consider Labor Day the official end of summer, don’t worry — the real official end of summer is September 21st.
Labor Day always falls on the first Monday in September — this year, that’s today, September 5. Actually, the very first Labor Day, in 1882, took place on a Tuesday — it was switched to a Monday once it was adopted by the states. Now employees can enjoy a three-day weekend.
Labor Day probably started in Canada — On March 25, 1872 the Toronto Typographical Union went on strike in favor of a shorter workweek…. later that year Parliament legalized unions. (Canada then celebrated their first “Labour Day” in 1894 and spelled it their way.)
No one is really sure who actually started Labor Day here in the United States. Some say it was Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Others say it was Matthew Maguire, a member of the International Association of Machinists. That controversy still continues with no declared winner. But regardless of who started it, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law in 1895. It’s interesting that Labor Day came along more than two decades before the US Department of Labor existed.
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, thousands of moms will go into labor on Labor Day and about 10,829 babies will be born. And according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (really!) Labor Day is considered the end of hot dog season.
And if you’re anywhere near my age, you remember the “no white after Labor Day” rule. Even before I was born, the upper crust of society created this unofficial rule. Today most people think the rule was made by insiders trying to keep other people out and outsiders trying to climb in by proving they knew the rules. But today, people mostly disregard the old rule. So if you see someone wearing white pants in October, and you even notice, you’re probably officially old.
Happy Labor Day, 2022.
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