Why Does May 1st Matter Around The World?

May 1st is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and celebrated unofficially in many other countries. May 1st is the day that represents International Workers' Day, a celebration of labour and the working classes, also known as Labour Day across the world. Many people associate this day with the labour rights and socialist movement across the world; however, the origins of this International Day is actually an American story.

In American history and literature books, one can reflect on the late 19th century working conditions depicted in books such as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. The working class not only had difficult working conditions, but they also struggled for the right to work an 8-hour day (as opposed to 15+ hours!).  Thousands of men, women and children suffered in the workplace during this period, with a life expectancy as low as the early twenties in some industries; Socialism offered another option.

On May 1, 1886, backed by organized trade and labor unions, more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs in the first May 1st demonstration in history. Over a hundred years have passed since that day. Ironically, May 1^st is a holiday in many countries and unofficially celebrated in many more throughout the world, but is rarely recognized in the country where it began.

Across the pond in Europe, May Day has traditionally marked the beginning of the summer spirit, even though May 1^st is really spring. It’s a time for saying goodbye to the long, cold winter and welcoming warmer weather by gathering flowers, singing, dancing and making new friends.  May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night.

Traditional May Day celebration includes the dancing the “maypole dance” and crowning of the Queen of the May.  The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1st was considered to be the first day of spring, May 1st was considered to be the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25th was considered Midsummer.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head is often adorned with flowers in a May crowning.

In Finland, May Day is known as Vappu, a carnival-style street festival in the country. People young and old, particularly students, party outside, picnic, and wear decorative clothing.

In France, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm.  He then decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court.  Later, in the beginning of the 20^th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1st. Nowadays, people may present loved ones with bunches of lily of the valley or other spring flowers.

So whether May 1st is celebrated as an International Labour Day to commemorate workers’ rights, or the coming of spring and summer, and merry making, it remains an important day across the world.

 Happy May Day!

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