Labor Day signifies the opposite of its implied meaning. Instead of laboring, relax. Put up your feet. Go somewhere and do something recreational. Enjoy family and friends.
The following Labor Day trivia comes from Cheesman Abiah Herrick's book, Outstanding Days:
- In Europe, May 1 is a great labor festival celebrated by monster gatherings of workmen. However, America is the first country of the world in which Labor Day has been generally recognized and celebrated as a holiday.
- On the first Monday in September in 1882 and again in 1884 the Knights of Labor, a secret society which had been formed in 1869, paraded in the streets of New York City. Labor demonstrations were continued on this date, and in 1887 and 1888 began the establishment of Labor Day as a legal holiday.
- In 1894 Congress made the first Monday in September a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and other Federal districts and for Government employees in the country at large. State legislation followed Congressional action until Labor Day has come to be universally observed throughout the country.
- There is Biblical warrant for labor: ...the man who does not toil is committing an offense before heaven. The early policy of the Church has been variously applied to human relations in a rule which says, "He who does not work shall not eat."
- The same sentiment is sometimes expressed in the terms of a fishing party which was in a leaky boat some distance from the shore. All hands were assigned work to do, and the rule was "Either row, bail, fish, or cut bait."
- Thomas Carlyle preached this same doctrine in the statement, "One monster there is in the world—the idle man.
- And again Charles Elton expressed the same thought, "Not toil but sloth shall ignominious be."
- An Italian proverb points to the value of labor: "He who labors is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a thousand."
So work, and work well, but don't work on Labor Day itself. Instead, enjoy the wonderful, extra-long weekend.
