We welcome the first day of spring with open arms, even IF we are supposed to get snow this evening and tomorrow here in the northeast. Happy First Day Of Spring & Happy Palm Sunday! Have a wonderful day. Blessings on you and your families.
One of the colorful things about New York City is that there are food carts on nearly every corner.
Oh How I Love The Smell Of The Warm Nuts That The Street Venders Sell In Winter
The Weather Here In The Northeast Has Been Quite Strange This Winter. In Hopes That Spring Comes Soon I Felt Compelled To Pick Up A Bunch Of Tulips And Arrange Them In This Beautiful Lundberg Vase.
Labor Day History
New York, New Jersey and Colorado were among the first states to approve state legal holidays. In response to support for a national holiday, Sen. James Henderson Kyle of South Dakota introduced a bill to make Labor Day a legal holiday on the first Monday of September each year. It was approved June 28, 1894.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It celebrates a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength and prosperity of the United States of America.
Through the years the nation have given increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During that year four more states (Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, twenty-three other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers. On June 28th of that year, Congressed passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed Labor Day. Some records indicate that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But, Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Mathew Maguire, a machinist, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Mathew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Patterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear, however, is that the Central Labor Union adapted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many individual centers of the country.
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday, which was a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and espirit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proven to be a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics, and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership – The American Worker!
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
Last night I had the pleasure of going to David Bouley’s Tribeca restaurant,Bouley. I have to say that it is one of the most beautiful dining rooms that I’ve seen in a very long time. Here is a photo that I took of the entrance. A wonderful display of fresh apples greet you when entering the restaurant. The aroma was ridiculously intoxicating.
Flag Day
In America, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th. It commemorates the adoption of the United States flag, which happened on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date. Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14th as Flag Day. In August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress, however Flag Day is not an official federal holiday.
On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdate.
New York Statutes designate the second Sunday in June as Flag Day, a state holiday.
Possibly the oldest continuing Flag Day parade is in Fairfield, Washington. Beginning in 1909 or 1910, Fairfield has held a parade every year since, with the possible exception of 1918, and celebrated the “Centennial” parade in 2010, along with some other commemorative events.
Quincy, Massachusetts has had an annual Flag Day parade since 1952, and claims it “is the longest-running parade of its kind in the nation.”
The largest Flag Day parade is held annually in Troy, New York, which bases its parade on the Quincy parade and typically draws at least 50,000 spectators.
The Three Oaks, Michigan Flag Day parade is held annually on the weekend of Flag Day and is a three-day event. They claim to have the largest Flag Day parade in the nation as well as the oldest.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen All Rights Reserved
Tiny New York Kitchen Out & About
One of the great things about summertime in New York City is spotting all of the ice cream trucks around the city. It seems like there’s one on every corner!
It nice to see that the NYPD is using Smart Cars for traffic patrol. Way to save the enviorment New York!
