Memorial Day and Labor Day, the Brackets of Summer Vacation

There are two holidays in the United States that Americans consider the unofficial brackets or demarcations of the summer season. Both dates are federal holidays, which means that most full-time non-essential workers get the day off, but still get paid.

The first one is Memorial Day, observed every last Monday in May to remember the men and women who died serving their country in the Armed Forces.

Traditionally people celebrate Memorial Days attending parades that feature marching bands and military themes. This holiday also coincides with children’s summer vacation, so this is the time when families start their annual summer trips. In the past, this holiday also marked the first day when fashionable people were allowed to wear white or seersucker outfits without committing a major fashion blunder!

Labor Day, on the other hand, is the holiday the marks the end of summer. In the United States it is celebrated every first Monday in September.

Labor Day pays tribute to the achievements and contributions of the American workforce with street parades and commemorative speeches.

Most countries honor their workers on May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day. The United States used to observe the May 1 holiday until a terrible tragedy took place at Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4, 1886. On that day, many people had gathered at the marketplace to show support for workers striking for an 8-hour workday when a bomb exploded, leading to gunfire. The result was the deaths of seven police officers and four civilians, in addition to many injuries.

So in 1887, a New York union leader proposed moving Labor Day to September so that the date could become a true celebration of workers instead of a day to observe the Haymarket Massacre.

Since Labor Day comes at the end of summer vacations, it coincides with the back to school routine in many American cities. This makes it a perfect day for stores to hold annual back-to-school sales and many people have incorporated shopping, in addition to going to the beach, into their traditional celebrations.

And in the world of fashion, Labor Day also marks the last day trendy people are supposed to wear the white or seersucker outfits that they had began wearing on Memorial Day.

Also worthy of mention is that Americans will eat and estimated seven billion hotdogs between Memorial and Labor Day. So if you haven’t had one yet, you still have till September 1!