World View

The U.S.

Alexander Gasyuk

In the U.S., “the red day on the calendar” is not only marked by every American mother, but by the head of every American family. Father’s Day is celebrated every third Sunday of June and is often celebrated with a family trip or a picnic.

The story of Father’s day is more than 100 years old. According to some legends, the first such holiday was noted in the U.S. on July 5, 1908 in West Virginia, for a very tragic reason — to honor 210 fathers and miners killed in an accident the previous year. From other data, Mrs. Dodd of Washington has become the initiator of the introduction of this holiday. In 1910, she wanted to express her gratitude to her father and to all caring fathers of America, involved in the upbringing of children.

A corresponding resolution calling for the establishment of a national “holiday of all fathers” was introduced in Congress in 1913. However, it wasn’t until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson officially declared the third Sunday in June a national holiday; President Nixon signed this into law in 1972.

Mother’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, but the holiday has some deeper roots than Father’s Day. The idea of the need for a Mother’s Day was first put forward in 1872 by Julia Howe, whose sensitive nature could not safely move the news about the numerous victims of the U.S. Civil War and other conflicts of the time. That is why Howe made a call to dedicate this day to the world, and since that day has annually collected “a crowd” in honor of Mother’s Day in Boston. She did this until the people remembered the date, and until President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day in 1914 as a national holiday.

Curiously, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in America have almost become the most commercialized holidays, after Christmas. It is estimated that during Mother’s Day there are more phone calls than on Father’s Day. On Father’s Day, in America, it is extremely popular to give electronics and tools to dads. On Mother’s Day, flowers, cards and hand-made presents to current and future moms are popular, as well as a mandatory trip to a restaurant, a massage or a spa treatment.

Curious to note: An informal, separate holiday exists for the beautiful half of the U.S. population who are engaged in business. Since mid-1990s, on Sept. 22 in the U.S., the American Business Women’s Day has been widely celebrated. The Association of Active and Business Women of America initiated the creation of this holiday, and decided that the contribution of its members to the country’s economic development requires recognition by society. American secretaries also have their own holiday. Secretary’s Day was first celebrated in the United States as early as 1960, but now aides, assistants, managers and other administrative staff at many companies in different countries rightly consider this April holiday their own.

United Kingdom

Without the ads, they would forget

The Brits remember “Mother’s” and “Father’s” holidays less and less

Olga Dmitrieva

“Love you, Mummy (Love You, Mom)!” A sentimental inscription adorned on a pink undershirt of a gray teddy bear, stands on the shelf of my closet. The gray teddy bear that has already become brown, was given to me by my son for Mother’s Day. While my son was growing up, an entire pack of bears formed on a shelf. For some reason this particular synthetic animal is persistently presented in Albion as a gift to local mums.

On what day I am congratulated with this holiday, I have never known. The date of the holiday floats on the calendar here between March and April, calculated as the fourth Sunday of Lent. Therefore, this festival is also called Mother’s Sunday. For example, this year’s Mother’s Day will be celebrated in Britain on April 3, and the next one on March 18. However, long before the holiday’s start, advertisements start to blow through all the pipes. Shop windows with their gigantic posters call their sons and daughters to not forget about their dearest parent and to give her, for example, a set of Belgian chocolate for 49 pounds sterling (2300 rubles), to get photographed with your mom for 19.50 pounds (the price includes makeup before the photoshoot) or to spend the afternoon at the “Mothers and Daughters” tea ceremony, while being treated to a cake with strawberries and cream tea. Finally, you can send your mother a bouquet of flowers with a sentimental inscription on a ribbon.

As an official holiday that originated all the way from the 16th century, this day is not a day off in Britain. Likewise, the Father’s Day that is celebrated in June is also not a day off. Therefore both holidays fall on a Sunday. It should be noted that neither of these holidays cause much enthusiasm or excitement in Britain. Even if they are celebrated, then they are celebrated quietly in a family circle.

“What do you give to your parents for Mother’s and Father’s Day?” I asked my friends.

“Actually, I don’t give anything,” shrugged a British colleague. “My mother lives in another city with my older sister. I send a greeting card and that’s it.”

Another friend said that on Father’s Day, he invites his elderly father to the pub, where both treat themselves to a pint or two of Guinness. My girlfriend calls her parents to her house for a holiday dinner; however, many invite their mother or father just for a glass of wine.

According to a British opinion poll a few years ago, only one parent in eight received Father’s Day gifts, and only one in three mothers received flowers for her holiday. From time to time, sluggish discussion appears in the local press about the fact that both holidays look far-fetched and utterly commercialized. Store clerks argue that without advertising, the British would altogether forget about Mother’s and Father’s Day, and that the holidays have long fallen asleep in Bose. And of such triumphant days, the majority of Britons, it seems, have never even heard of March 8. When I happened to mention to my friends that International Women’s Day was a day off for me, they were jealous of me.

China

The Bachelor’s Day

The Chinese celebrate this holiday with healthy irony

Evgeny Solovyov

International Women’s Day, March 8, is an ordinary working day in China, although this date is officially listed as a “public holiday.” It is no secret that China has adopted many of its holidays, especially for workers and peasants, from the Soviet Union. For example, for many years in May, the Chinese rested for several days under the slogans “Peace. Labor. May.” However, even today, this holiday has a political shade to it, though the number of days off has been reduced.

However, the situation with the International Women’s Day is somewhat different. 10 years ago nobody had heard of such a holiday, except those that were supposed to hear about it on duty — the All-China Women’s Association. Cold meetings of the leaders with the best workers of the co-operative, a small concert — that was the whole holiday. But in recent years, more and more people recall that March 8 is devoted not only to women’s rights activists, but most directly to the weaker gender. Many bosses give their employees either a day off or a shortened day. On this day today, it is more likely to find bouquets of flowers, cakes and chocolate in the offices. However, it seems that this holiday is known only in large cities; in the villages this holiday was not known until recently.

But if the women in China are somehow remembered, the Chinese have created “the day of the bachelor” for the men. It is usually celebrated on Nov. 11. Why that day? The explanation is simple: the 11th day of the 11th of the month, or four units — always the same. They say that students from the city of Nanjing, who suffered from a lack of females, came up with the holiday in 1990. Gradually, the holiday gained such popularity that modern parents try even to postpone childbirth so their kid would not be born on Nov. 11. However, many people see this holiday with a healthy dose of irony and celebrate it in full style. For example, married men host “bachelor parties” on this day, so they can feel “single” again.

Germany

“Shut up, woman!”

This rule applies in Germany during Men’s Day

Anna Roze

On March 8 men never give flowers — not to wives, not to lovers, not to colleagues. In the past in Germany, on this day women were released from work and wandered the streets in small groups… beautiful tipsy ladies.

Flowers are directly associated with the tradition of Mother’s Day — Women’s Day, which is celebrated every second Sunday of May in Germany. The idea of establishing this day, in the way Mother’s Day was established in the U.S., was offered by the German union of owners of flower shops at the beginning of last century. Since then, children of all ages congratulate their moms, giving them flowers and candy. On this day, according to a federal statistics agency, the sale of flowers in Germany increases by three to four times.

Men have fully secured their Men’s Day, which is held on the holiday of the Ascension, 40 days after Easter. This day, which is always a Thursday, is officially a day off. The roots of the holiday come from a religious tradition. However, German men do not even remember to go to church during this day. For them, the most sacred thing is to meet with friends and drink a crate or two of beer. For their girlfriends on this day, the following rule applies: “Shut up, woman!” Complaints to men about the fact that they arrived home in a pig-like condition are unacceptable. To get drunk during Men’s Day is an unwritten rule to be followed by every self-respecting German gentleman.

Traditionally, on this day men get into a cart that is pulled by one horse, decorated for the occasion, load the cart with alcohol and leave to the countryside. Sometimes these picnics end in fights. The level of brawls and fights between drunken, aggressive men dramatically increase. Women and children usually do not stick their nose out of the house on this day. One never knows what will happen.

France

The Wreath for St. Catherine

In Paris, even Grandfather’s Day is celebrated

Viacheslav Prokofiev

In France, several men’s and women’s holidays exist, but none that would be a “red day on the calendar,” meaning a day off work.

Perhaps the most popular of them all is Mother’s Day. Although the roots of this holiday go into antiquity — or rather back to ancient Greece, where the pagan temples glorified goddess Rhea in springtime, mother of Zeus and other mythological characters — in France, this holiday began to gain popularity at the end of World War I with the help of Americans. The fact is, in the U.S. Mother’s Day became widely celebrated in May during the 19th century. Therefore, in the French post office, it was noticed that during that period in particular, the stream of telegrams and letters sent from the front over the ocean by the soldiers and officers of the American Expeditionary Force increased by 10 times.

After understanding the causes of this epistolary activity, the French authorities decided that the celebration of mothers, especially after the disastrous war, in which millions of men lost their lives, would increase fertility and help solve the demographic problem in the long run. True, at first the focus was on putting mothers of many children on the pedestal. Special grants from government and public funds were made for them, and the most fertile mothers were handed gold medals of honor. The day got its official holiday status in 1928, and has since been celebrated on the last Sunday of May. This year it falls on May 29.

In France, even grandmothers have not been forgotten. They have their own holiday, by the way; it falls on the first Sunday of March, on March 6. It should be emphasized that its origin, in contrast to Mother’s Day, does not have any deep historical roots.

It was invented in 1987 by a company that produces coffee — Grand’mère, which means

“Grandma” in French. The invention of the French could not fail to please: It was another reason to call or visit granny, in short, to do something nice for her.

Leaving aside International Women’s Day, which contains a political connotation here (from the 1920s onward, it has been celebrated mostly by communists, socialists and feminists), France has another charming women’s holiday dedicated to unmarried girls of 25 years and older. This day is called Saint Catherine’s Day, as Saint Catherine is considered the patron of unmarried girls. According to the legend, the peasant Catherine, an educated and beautiful girl who lived in the 3rd century in Alexandria, dreamed about Jesus Christ. He handed her a ring and called her his fiancée. During a pagan festival arranged by the Roman Emperor Maximilian, Catherine won a theological dispute with the wise men; moreover, she converted many relatives of the emperor, including his wife, to the Christian faith. For this she was tortured and martyred.

In the Middle Ages, St. Catherine was celebrated with special ceremonies in France. Young girls of marriageable age went to church to cover the head of the statue of their patron with festive headgear, flowers and ribbons. At the same time, they prayed that the heavens would be kind to them and send them a groom as soon as possible. Since then, such mademoiselles are called “katerinetki.” Of course, nowadays 25-year-old Frenchwomen do not consider themselves old maids, but the tradition celebrating St. Catherine’s Day on Nov. 25 has remained, especially in the north of France and in Paris. The girls prepare themselves well for this holiday, for example, by creating super extravagant hats. These hats must be by all means in two colors — yellow, the color of faith, and green, the color of knowledge.

In Paris, “katerinetki” gather on this day in the second urban district, where there is a statue of St. Catherine at the crossing of the Petit-Carreau and Claire. They decorate the wreath on St. Catherine’s head, and then go to the city hall for a competition for the best yellow-green hat.

What about men? They have not been forgotten. There is Father’s Day, which falls on the last Sunday of May. But most recently, in 2008, Grandfather’s Day came into existence. For the third year it is celebrated thanks to a big idea man — Frank Izkerdo, the author of numerous games, crosswords and other puzzles. Frank was very fond of his grandfathers, as he himself confessed, and invented the holiday in their memory.

Bulgaria

Birthday men in praise

Bulgarian men are very lucky in terms of holidays

Vladimir Kuzmin

Although the country does not have a men’s day, which would also be a day off from work, Bulgaria has more than enough reasons to celebrate. Indeed, birthdays are greatly praised in Bulgaria. Ivan’s Day, Nicholas’ Day, Vassil’s Day, Atanas’ Day — all these days are widely celebrated by the owners of these names.

The most widely celebrated day in Bulgaria is George’s day (May 6), which is also the Bulgarian Army Day. According to statistics, George is the most common male name in the country. May 6 in particular is the day that Bulgarian men (not only George) celebrate on full scale. There’s even a special dish — lamb of St. George, and it is almost mandatory for the dish to be presented on this day at every Bulgarian table. But Father’s Day in Bulgaria has not yet taken root.

The Bulgarian women are less lucky than the men. Of course, March 8 exists in the calendar as Mother’s Day, but it cannot be said that it definitely is accepted by everyone in Bulgarian society. For some Bulgarians, this holiday has political overtones, a legacy of the communist regime, “that forces us to congratulate women on March 8, as in the U.S.S.R.”

However, by far, not everyone thinks this way. And although March 8 is not a day off from work, in the streets you can see many men with bouquets of flowers and cheerful women. The price of flowers on this day rises several times. “This day feeds us like a whole year would,” the owner of a flower shop says, not hiding his joy. Politics will stay politics, but it is necessary to congratulate your favorite women on March 8 — that’s the opinion of the majority of Bulgarians, because other women’s holidays in Bulgaria do not exist.

Let’s not forget about the heavily advertised Valentine’s Day in Bulgaria. However, Feb. 14 is also a wine festival, which is revered in Bulgarian society far more than the day of lovers.