– (Disclosure/Reproduction/Disclosure)
In fact, Mother’s Day does not have a commercial origin.
Since Ancient Greece, there were celebrations at the entrance of spring, in honor of Reia, mother of Zeus and considered the matriarch of all the gods. But this ancestral celebration was lost, and the current Mother’s Day only appeared at the beginning of the last century, in the United States, as a tribute to women who lost their children in the Civil War. The American Anna Jarvis first managed to make the holiday official in her city, Webster, then in the state of West Virginia and, in 1914, the holiday became national.
In Brazil, the date began to be celebrated under American influence – it was introduced by the Christian Association of Moços (ACM) in 1918 – and, in 1932, it was made official by President Getúlio Vargas. Only in 1949 did the date become more commercial, when advertisements were rolled out to increase sales. Other holidays that have a “noble” origin outside Brazil and are more commercial in nature are Valentine’s Day, Children’s Day and Father’s Day.
CHRISTMAS
Date in Brazil: December 25th
Date elsewhere in the world: December 25th
How it came about: The birth of Jesus was only made official on December 25th in the 4th century. Before, this date was the commemoration of the Persian god Mitra luz. To take advantage of the festivity that already existed, the Church exchanged one commemoration for another
MOTHERS DAY
Date in Brazil: Second sunday of May
Date elsewhere in the world: First or last Sunday in May
How it came about: It emerged as a tribute to an American mother. In Brazil, it began to be celebrated on the second Sunday of May from 1918 onwards and was “commercialized” from 1949 onwards.
FATHER’S DAY
Date in Brazil: Second Sunday in August
Date elsewhere in the world: Third Sunday of June
How it came about: It started in the United States in 1910, as a tribute to a father who raised six children alone. There, the holiday is in June. In Brazil, the idea of having a holiday for parents came from carioca publicist Sylvio Bhering, in 1953
VALENTINE’S DAY
Date in Brazil: June 12
Date elsewhere in the world: February 14th
How it came about: Outside Brazil, it is celebrated on the day of Saint Valentine, who would have been a Roman priest who was against a celibacy law. Here, the idea came from publicist João Doria (father of the mayor of São Paulo, João Doria Jr.), who launched a campaign in June 1949 with the slogan “love is not only proved with kisses”.
CHILDREN’S DAY
Date in Brazil: October 12th
Date elsewhere in the world: November 20th
How it came about: Created in Brazil by a 1924 law, the date became more commercial in the 60s, when a director of the Estrela toy factory created a promotion to encourage the sale of a doll called Baby Robusto. The idea worked and the celebration took off