Floral Symbols and Meanings - The Origins of Holidays
Administrative Professionals' Week
Bosses' Day
Halloween
Labor Day
National Grandparents' Day
Rosh Hashanah
Sweetest Day
Yom Kippur
Administrative Professionals' Week
Recently Professional Secretaries' Week and Professional Secretaries' Day officially changed to Administrative Professionals' Week and Administrative Professionals' Day. Why change the name of a holiday that has been celebrated for more than 48 years? Simply put, the name "Professional Secretaries' Day" only served to recognize a minority of employees in today's administrative professionals workforce. As of the year 2000, the United States job corps included 3.4 million secretaries/administrative assistants and 1.4 million clerical supervisors and managers. Administrative professionals in Canada numbered 400,000.
Bosses' Day
Bosses' Day originated in 1950 through the efforts of Patricia Bays Haroski, of Wisconsin-Salem, NC, who felt that her boss, and bosses across America should be honored. She noted that "our boss is first of all a human, with a personal life and problems, and secondly, has to assume the overall responsibilities of the company" - not just between the hours of 9 - 5.
Halloween
Halloween was not widely observed during the first 200 years of American settlement. The real impetus for the holiday came with the potato famine in Ireland, which brought many Irish immigrants to America. Although the roots of the holiday can be traced to olden pagan celebrations, Halloween today in America has become a decidedly children's holiday, complete with costumes, pumpkin carving, and dressing in costume. It seems to be evolving, however, into an adult holiday as well - second only to Christmas in popularity.
Labor Day
Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. Its first observance is believed to have been a parade held September 5, 1882, in New York, NY. By 1893 more than half of the states were observing Labor Day, and in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed an act officially proclaiming the first Monday in September a legal holiday for federal employees. Labor Day continues to be an annual national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well being of our country.
National Grandparents' Day
National Grandparents' Day began through the efforts of Marion McQuade of West Virginia in 1973. Marion, as the mother of 15 children and grandmother to 18, began a campaign to set aside a day for grandparents. In 1978, five years after the idea's inception, Senator Jennings Randolph (D-WV) introduced it as a resolution to the U.S. Senate. Congress passed legislation declaring the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents' Day.
September, which symbolizes the autumn years of life, was chosen, and the holiday was established with a three-fold purpose: (1) to honor grandparents; (2) to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children; and (3) to help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year referred to in the Bible as "a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns." As a time of "memorial", it was when God judged the deeds of all men during the preceding year. It is considered one of the most sacred celebrations of the Jewish year, and begins the High Holiday season.
Sweetest Day
Sweetest Day tends to be more of a regional holiday, although it is growing in popularity. A Cleveland, OH, man, who believed that the city's orphans and shut-ins often felt forgotten, conceived the idea of showing them they were remembered by the distribution of small gifts. In the following years, other people in Cleveland began to follow this precedent, and it became known as Sweetest Day. The concept was broadened to include everyone, and became a way to remember others with a small gift or a kind act.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the most important of Jewish holidays. It means "Day of Atonement", and is marked by twenty-four hours of fasting and prayer. Each person asks for forgiveness for all mankind's sins. Generally, the family gets together for a festive meal the evening before Yom Kippur; candles are lighted; family members ask each other's forgiveness, and they go to the synagogue to pray. Although it is a solemn time, it is dedicated to joyfulness in the belief that God will forgive old sins, and a fresh beginning can be made.