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What is May Day?
The first day of May – in honor of Maypole – has a storied history. Beginning in medieval times in Europe, according to History.com, where communities (specifically in Beltane) would celebrate with “colorful streamers and ribbons” and dance – a type of “agricultural-themed rit[e]”. Some even associated this ritual with fertility – the pole “symbolised male fertility and baskets and wreaths symbolized female fertility.”
These baskets were filled with flowers, treats, and trinkets. In certain towns, they were used as a message from a boy to girl, indicating their romantic interest.
In others, a neighbor would leave the basket on the other’s door handle or “on the porch in secret, a sweet, unexpected way to brighten up a neighbor’s May Day.”
This celebration did not occur in America, as the Puritan communities disapproved of it. Later on in the U.S., however, the labor movement during the Industrial Revolution aligned itself with a new interpretation of May Day. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (now the American Federation of Labor) initiated a workers’ strike of over 300,000 workers on May 1, 1886.
Since that day, 66 countries have celebrated May Day (sometimes referred to Labour Day or International Workers’ Day) as an official holiday, but the U.S. is not one of them. In 1894, after the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland adjusted the U.S. celebration of Labor Day to the first Monday in September, hoping to differentiate this American holiday from “the international worker’s celebration for fear that it would build support for communism.”
While former president Dwight D. Eisenhower sought to revive May Day in 1958, official recognition did not take shape. Instead, according to National Public Radio, unofficial celebrations in America formed around the curation and gifting of May Day baskets.
How To Take Part in May Day as a College Student?
Living conveniently proximate to all your friends in college provides ample opportunity to decorate the door handles of those you love. If you desire to celebrate May Day this year, here are some baskets and decorations that are well suited for the occasion.
Baskets:
Option One, Option Two, Option Three, Option Four
Trinkets:
Laneige Lip Balm, Under Eye Patches, Floral Notepad, Kitchen Towels, Lavender Coffee Syrup, Lavender Shortbread Cookies, Floral Claw Clip, Shortbread Cooking Mix, Hydrangea Flower Seeds, Floral Frame, Floral Vase