About a week or two ago, after the celebration of Star Wars Day, the May 4th event got me thinking. Why is it that our culture celebrates random days that turn into annual traditions? How have these national, or in some cases international, markings of these 24 hour festivities emerged and when were they first established? So I did some digging.
There are annual celebratory days that seem obvious in their commemoration, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, etc. Even annual markings that don’t receive official observance through the closing of public schools or shutting down of other institutions, but rather they are days that recognize and raise awareness. For example, World Down Syndrome Day, Purple Day (which spreads knowledge about epilepsy), and World Mental Health Day.
Then, we have those random days of celebration that we all know an love. On the other side of the spectrum are days whose celebratory names would appear to have senseless, trivial, meaning (or lack there of) behind these events. However, these days of celebration actually have a valid cause behind their origination. A few examples include Siblings Day, National Donut Day, World Toilet Day, and Dr. Seuss Day.
Siblings Day was created by Claudia Evart in 1995 after losing both of her siblings at an early age. Evart founded the Siblings Day Foundation, whose organization moved toward establishing the annual commemoration.
Celebrated on the first Friday of June, National Donut Day was officially established in 1938 by the Salvation Army, although Donut distributing activities started before that. Participants within the Salvation Army would travel across the world to feed soldiers donuts during World War I. To this day, National Donut Days serves as a fundraiser for Chicago’s Salvation Army.
On November 19, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly came together to officiate this day as World Toilet Day, a day that recognizing the lack of safe sanitation for people all over the world. It was reported that 2.4 out of the 7 billion people in the world don’t have the means to obtain sound sanitation.
On March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Dr. Seuss Day was officially founded. Adapted from the National Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss Day serves as a reminder to encourage and motivate children to continue reading every day of the year.
While other similar annual occasions may not have a strongly rooted backstory, events like Pi Day and International Dance Day, date back to their original initiation during the 1980s. It’s strange to think that a made up holiday I fondly associate with getting pie during my 7th period math class actually started in 1988.
However, there are those days that are just created simply to celebrate random topics and that bring people together to enjoy the shared interest, such as International Beer Day, Friendship Day, and Star Wars Day. I mean, who doesn’t like to celebrate. Especially if it something you are interested in. Yet, the lack of merit to these annual festivities still has us wondering. How did they come about? For example Friendship day, which is celebrated on the first Sunday of August, was officiated by the United Nations in 2011. However, the “holiday” was originally founded by the Hallmark Greeting Card company in 1919, before fading out in 1940.
Although the United Nations General Assembly founded what seems to be a genuine celebration and appreciation of those we consider to be our friends, Hallmark and other card companies seem to be using it to their advantage. Even 100 years later, they continue to profit from the installment of “friendship day” cards.
But the question for some of these events still stands: why? Why did it start? Was it simply enough for people who are passionate about topics to create their own day in celebration? If so, why is it that there can be so much public attention recognizing a day like Star Wars Day, and yet Equal Pay Day doesn’t receive nearly as much awareness. Maybe it is the titles of these days, like Donut Day and Toilet Day, that grab our attention.
So what do you think? Should we resort to changing the names of causes to grab national notice, or pay more attention to the institutions rather than the title?
Let us know in the comment section below.