Parkview Healthcare Facility's Parkview Outlook May 2019 | Page 3

3
The History of May Day
May Day celebrates the return of spring in the northern hemisphere. It has been observed since ancient times
and is believed to have begun in agricultural societies to ensure a good growing season. Egyptians, Greeks, and
Romans all have recorded accounts of May Day celebrations. The Romans called it the Festival of Flora, in hon-
or of the goddess of flowers. It was a five-day celebration that included wildflower gathering, bright clothing,
theater productions, and sports competitions. In medieval England, the celebration included dancing around a
maypole. In Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, this celebration was called Beltane, which means “return of
the sun.” Rituals to protect crops and cattle were performed, along with fire ceremonies and a huge feast. In
Germany, the day is still celebrated in honor of St. Walburga, who brought Christianity to the German tribes in
the eighth century. It is also associated with witches, who were said to celebrate on a local mountain peak. In
the Philippines, Flores de Mayo lasts the entire month and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This celebration in-
cludes pageants and parades. Along with maypole dances, parades, feasts, and festivals, one of the most fun
traditions of May Day are May Day baskets. Although not as popular today, they were an iconic part of May Day
celebrations in Europe and North America until the mid-1950s.
May Day Baskets
It’s believed that the tradition of May Day baskets began as people decorated their homes with flowers and
branches for the holiday. They left their extra flowers and boughs at the homes of neighbors, and eventually it
became tradition to leave flowers on neighbors’ doorsteps. This tradition evolved into filling little baskets, often
made of paper, with flowers and/or sweets, and hanging them on front doorknobs. The giver would hang the
basket, knock on the door, and scamper off to hide, so the recipient wouldn’t know who left the basket. (The
giver often peeked from their hiding place to see the recipient’s response!) In some areas, young men and
young women announced their romantic intentions toward one another by hanging a May Day basket on their
intended’s door. Sometimes the tradition included pursuing the giver and demanding a kiss to seal their court-
ship! In 1925, two bold little girls in the United States hung a May Day basket on the door of the White House.
First Lady Grace Coolidge found the little girls and presented them with flowers she’d picked. Another tradition
was born, and during the 1920s and 1930s, little girls presented May Day baskets to the wife of the president
of the United States. In the 1930s, it became a craze amongst young people to collect wallpaper samples and
create hanging baskets from them. The more creative the basket, the better! It was often a family tradition as
well, a gift-giving celebration second only to Christmas. Louisa May Alcott wrote about the tradition in her 1880
book Jack and Jill: “Such a twanging of bells and rapping of knockers; such a scampering of feet in the dark;
such droll collisions as boys came racing round corners, or girls ran into one another’s arms as they crept up
and down steps on the sly; such laughing, whistling, flying about of flowers and friendly feeling—it was almost a
pity that May-day did not come oftener.” By the 1960s, the tradition had all but vanished from the United
States. Today, there is a resurgence of interest in the celebration. The social media site, Pinterest, contains
dozens of articles about how to make May Day baskets using everything from colored paper to paper plates
and aluminum cans. The old has become new again!
www.activityconnection.com