1. The History of Mother’s Day
Sure some may be tired of the usual holidays such as Christmas, Easter or buying gifts
such as baby gift baskets. There is however one day of the year that we should all take
time for out of respect, for our mums. After all, where would we be without them?
Mother’s Day is a day we can all come forward and say thanks to our mums and show her
how much we appreciate the unconditional love they have given us from the very start.
Mums certainly deserve to be spoilt and have at least one day out of the year that is
called ‘theirs’.
As with most holidays, different places around the world claim different beginnings for
Mother’s Day and celebrate on different days. Some believe that the celebration of Cybele,
a Greek custom honouring the mother of the Greek Gods, was the origin of Mothers Day.
During a festival to commemorate this, Ancient Romans also celebrated Juno, a Roman
Goddess, special counsellor and protector of the state. One of the festive activities at this
time was that Mothers all over Rome received gifts.
However Australia has a different history for the beginnings of Mother’s Day. In the 1920’s
there was a news report that attributed Mother’s Day to Mrs Janet Heyden. She made an
appeal to the public to be charitable and donate to the disadvantaged mothers who
resided at ‘Newington Asylum’. This Asylum was an institute that homed ‘paupers’. Among
these were Mothers and the elderly who had been widowed or divorced and as a result
were destitute. Janet Heyden explained in a further news article in the 1950’s, “So I
appealed to the public through the newspapers to remember the mothers of Sydney. The
gifts started to pour in. The late Alderman Dyer, who was Mayor of Leichardt, used to
drive me around to the old mothers of the district with my gift parcels. For seven years in
succession, the appeal through the newspapers, made sure that hundreds of mothers who
would otherwise have been forgotten received a Mother’s Day gift. It was wonderful.
Today, of course, a gift for mother is just the natural thing.”
Whichever history you prefer, the most important thing is that you love your mum to the
moon and back as she has loved you for many years. Mothers Day hampers are the best
gift to give your mum for her special day as they contain all sorts of goodies she can find
a quiet spot to enjoy them and have some time to herself, at last.
http://www.hamperme.com.au
