Using his power and prestige, Philadelphia department store pioneer John Wanamaker helped a local woman officially designate a day for mothers to receive thanks and adulation across the country. By the 1930s, a drive to sell gifts altered the founder’s original mission for the holiday.
Was the founding of Mother’s Day based on good intentions or was it designed as a marketing ploy? Or was it a combination of both? Using his power and prestige, Philadelphia department store pioneer John Wanamaker helped a local woman officially designate a day for mothers to receive thanks and adulation across the country.
The premise behind Mother’s Day has changed since it was officially proclaimed as a federal holiday back in 1914. In 1908, Anna Jarvis approached Wanamaker for promotional help with a plan for a Mother’s Day. She envisioned a special day that honored mothers with good deeds and simple gestures of kindness. Today, these simple gestures have blossomed into larger efforts that are based on sales and profits. Before the COVID-19 virus took hold of the country, the Statistica Research and Analysis firm predicted that 2020 Mother’s Day spending could reach $26.7 billion.
Anna Jarvis grew up in Grafton, West Virginia. As a young child, she watched her mother teach sanitation methods to church families and provide care for Civil War soldiers. The soldiers often returned home from battle with illnesses and disease. These illnesses spread throughout families and neighboring communities.
