6 Surprising Facts About Mother's Day

Time​ Magazine

02-05-2025

M other's Day in the U.S., which falls on May 11, will see Americans continue a long tradition of celebrating mothers and caregivers.
Each year, people prepare cards, flowers, gifts, and brunches to commemorate mothers in a holiday that has a rich and controversial history. Here are some surprising facts about Mother's Day as it approaches.
The first Mother's Day was organized on May 10, 1908 in West Virginia and Pennsylvania
The so-called 'mother' of Mother's Day is Anna Jarvis, a copywriter from West Virginia. Born during the Civil War, Anna watched as her mother Ann worked to organize Mother's Work Clubs to care for soldiers on both sides of the war, and worked to bridge divides between mothers from the North and South, according to the National Parks Service.
Jarvis began organizing for Mother's Day as a way to honor her mother's work and peacemaking efforts. In 1907, she hosted a small gathering of friends to do this, announcing her idea for a national holiday honoring mothers at this gathering.
In 1908, the first formal Mother's Day celebrations were observed on the second Sunday in May—the anniversary of Jarvis' mothers death—in Grafton, West Virginia and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though Jarvis celebrated in Philadelphia, she sent 500 white carnations to Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in her West Virginia hometown in honor of her late mother Ann.
After these first celebrations, Jarvis conducted a nationwide letterwriting campaign to push for an official holiday dedicated to celebrating the nation's mothers.
Mother's Day became an official holiday in 1914
Jarvis' efforts officially paid off in 1914. On May 8, 1914, Congress passed a law declaring the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day and the next day President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the official holiday, proclaiming it also as a holiday to honor mothers whose sons had died in war. Thus, the first official Mother's Day took place on May, 10, 1914, though the holiday was widely recognized prior to the official declaration.
Carnations are the official flowers of Mother's Day
Jarvis' 500 white carnations to honor her late mother began the long-running tradition of these specific flowers being used to honor Mother's Day.
Traditionally, even before the official holiday was declared, vendors sold carnations for churchgoers to wear, red for those whose mother was living and white for those whose mother had died.
The Society of American Florists reports that Mother's Day is the third-highest selling holiday for florists—beat only by Valentine's Day and Christmas/Hannukah.
Anna Jarvis spent the later part of her life fighting against Mother's Day
Though Jarvis worked to make Mother's Day an official holiday, historians have argued that she later railed against the commercialization and popularization of the holiday, which she said strayed from her initial intent.
'They're commercializing my Mother's Day,' she complained in a letter to newspapers, according to the Washington Post. In a separate news release, she said: 'WHAT WILL YOU DO to route charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and other termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and truest movements and celebrations?'
Jarvis fought against First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for using Mother's Day as a day to raise money for charity, and was even arrested for disturbing a Philadelphia convention of the American War Mothers, who celebrated Mother's Day and utilized the white carnation emblem.
Consumers are expected to spend $33.5 billion on Mother's Day
Eighty-four percent of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate the holiday in 2025, and altogether they are expected to spend $33.5 billion, including gifts, flowers, cards and meals, according to the National Retail Federation, who conduct an annual survey of consumers.
The biggest spenders, NRF says, are expected to be those between the ages of 35 and 44, who are budgeting $345.75 on average for the holiday. The most popular gifts are flowers and greeting cards, which 74% of respondents say they plan to buy. Online is the most popular shopping destination for those buying Mother's Day gifts.
Phone calls will likely soar on Mother's Day
In 2024, Verizon reported that their consumers used their phone networks 5.6% more on Mother's Day than they did on Father's Day.