Labor Day weekend is an important time for small businesses, especially those in the retail and restaurant industries. Not only are there sales to promote and events to be held, it also marks the point where holiday preparations must begin. So in this very busy time, let’s take a moment to relax with some Labor Day fun facts.
1. The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union. The Labor Day parade of about 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched from City Hall past Union Square uptown to 42nd street, and ended in Wendel’s Elm Park at 92nd Street and 9th Avenue for a concert, speeches, and a picnic.
2. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
3. Many credit Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, while others have suggested that Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central Labor Union, first proposed the holiday.
4. In the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to eke out a basic living.
5. The year in which the 8-hour day was firmly established was 1916 with the passage of the Adamson Act. This was the first federal law regulating hours of workers in private companies.
6. Labor Day is one of the biggest U.S. sales weekends, forcing retail industry employees to work some of their longest hours. While big discounts can turn Labor Day into a fun shopping spree for many, they also drive the longest, toughest workdays for many Americans—more specifically, our largest labor group, retail employees. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released in April 2014, retail salespersons and cashiers were the occupations with the largest employment in May 2013.
7. Some of the first Labor Day festivities included “speeches, a picnic, an abundance of cigars and, Lager beer kegs mounted in every conceivable place“.
8. Oregon was the first, then Colorado, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey followed as the first states to declare Labor Day a state holiday.
9. During peak “hot dog season,” which spans from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans gorge themselves on roughly 818 hot dogs every second (or 7 billion total).
10. Historians say the expression “no white after Labor Day” comes from when the upper class would return from their summer vacations and stow away their lightweight, white summer clothes as they returned back to school and work.
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Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveodland/2012/08/29/10-labor-day-facts/, http://www.softschools.com/facts/holidays/labor_day_facts/1301/, https://www.adoramapix.com/blog/2016/09/05/15-fun-facts-about-labor-day/, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-labor-day-holiday
