Mothers Day - Blog

Anna Jarvis invented Mother's Day, then spent the rest of her life trying to destroy it. She died in 1948 with no children of her own and no money left, having sued the people selling flowers in her mother's name.

This guide covers where Mother's Day came from, the three women who shaped it, and what the holiday looks like now.

Mother's Day in the United States falls on the second Sunday in May, set by presidential proclamation on May 9, 1914. Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia founded it to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, who died on May 9, 1905. Americans now spend a record $38 billion on the holiday, with 84 percent of adults taking part.

In this article

• Mother's Day Quick Facts ↓
• Why Mother's Day Exists at All ↓
• The Three Women Behind Mother's Day ↓
• How Mother's Day Became a National Habit ↓
• FAQ ↓

Mother's Day Quick Facts

Why Mother's Day Exists at All

Mother's Day grew out of the American Civil War, not out of greeting cards. Ann Reeves Jarvis organized women's groups in West Virginia through the 1860s to fight disease and poverty. When the war reached her towns, she told those clubs to stay neutral and feed both sides.

Her daughter Anna watched all of it. After her mother died in 1905, Anna spent years campaigning for a day to honor mothers. She got one. Then she watched the flower industry, the card industry, and the candy industry take it over inside a decade, and she fought them until she ran out of money.

The Three Women Behind Mother's Day

Ann Reeves Jarvis Built the Work Clubs

Ann Reeves Jarvis started Mothers' Day Work Clubs across West Virginia in the 1850s and 1860s. The clubs ran in Webster, Grafton, Fetterman, Pruntytown, and Philippi. They raised money for medicine, taught sanitation, and cared for families hit by tuberculosis. When the Civil War arrived, she instructed the clubs to declare neutrality and treat wounded soldiers from both armies. The holiday her daughter later built was meant to honor this specific work, not motherhood as a greeting-card abstraction.

Julia Ward Howe Wrote a Peace Appeal First

Julia Ward Howe published "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" in Boston in September 1870, and it is often called the first Mother's Day proclamation. Howe wrote it as a pacifist response to the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. She called for an international congress of women to settle disputes without bloodshed. The Library of Congress holds the original broadside. Her version never became a national holiday and shares little with the May observance beyond the word "mother."

Anna Jarvis Turned Grief Into a Holiday

Anna Jarvis led a small tribute to her mother at Andrews Methodist Church on May 12, 1907. The first full observances followed on May 10, 1908, in Grafton and at the Wanamaker store auditorium in Philadelphia. Jarvis skipped the Grafton service and sent 500 white carnations instead, her mother's favorite flower. She then wrote letters to governors, editors, and members of Congress for six straight years until the holiday went national. Persistence, it turns out, is a marketable skill even when you hate marketing.

How Mother's Day Became a National Habit

Woodrow Wilson Signed It Into the Calendar in 1914

Mother's Day became a national observance on May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation fixing it to the second Sunday in May. Wilson described the day as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of the country. Individual states had already adopted their own versions by 1911. The 1914 proclamation gave all of them one shared date, which is why the holiday moves by up to a week each year but never leaves May.

Anna Jarvis Spent Her Life Fighting Her Own Holiday

Anna Jarvis turned against Mother's Day within a decade of winning it. She objected to florists raising carnation prices for the occasion, and she called printed greeting cards a lazy substitute for a letter written by hand. She organized boycotts, disrupted a confectioners' convention, and filed lawsuits. The National Park Service records her description of the industries involved as charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, and kidnappers. She died in 1948 having never married and having had no children.

The Holiday Now Moves $38 Billion a Year

Mother's Day spending in the United States reached a record $38 billion, according to the National Retail Federation's survey of 7,877 adults. The average shopper budgeted $284.25, up from $259.04 the year before. Jewelry leads at $7.5 billion, followed by special outings at $6.4 billion and electronics at $4.4 billion. Flowers account for $3.2 billion, and 75 percent of shoppers buy them, which means the tradition Anna Jarvis started with 500 carnations is now the single most common gift and the one she would have hated most.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Mother's Day in the United States?

Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia founded Mother's Day to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, after her death on May 9, 1905. She held the first observance on May 10, 1908 and campaigned for six more years until it went national. Anna Jarvis was born May 1, 1864 and died November 24, 1948.

When is Mother's Day in the United States?

Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May in the United States, fixed by presidential proclamation on May 9, 1914. The date shifts by up to a week each year but stays inside May. Mother's Day 2027 lands on Sunday, May 9.

Why are carnations the flower of Mother's Day?

Carnations became the Mother's Day flower because Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to the first observance in Grafton in 1908, her mother's favorite bloom. The color came to carry meaning over time, with white worn for a mother who has died and pink or red for a living mother. Flowers now account for $3.2 billion of US Mother's Day spending.

Why did Anna Jarvis turn against Mother's Day?

Anna Jarvis opposed Mother's Day because the flower, card, and candy industries commercialized it within about a decade of the 1914 proclamation. She organized boycotts, disrupted a confectioners' convention, and filed lawsuits against companies profiting from the day. She described those industries as charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, and kidnappers.

What is the difference between Mother's Day and Mothering Sunday?

Mother's Day is an American holiday established in 1914 and held on the second Sunday in May. Mothering Sunday is a much older British Christian observance tied to the fourth Sunday of Lent, when people returned to their home or mother church. The two have separate origins and separate dates, though modern British practice has borrowed heavily from the American version.

Why does a Mother's Day metal print make a great gift for moms who love floral art?

A Mother's Day metal print gift for moms who love floral art is a thoughtful, ready-to-display choice because it carries the bloom imagery the holiday was built on without wilting in a week, arrives with no framing needed, and includes a matching 5mm mouse pad for their desk. Handcrafted in North Liberty, Iowa and shipping in 3 to 5 business days, this Mother's Day wall art is meaningful Mother's Day decor that still works last-minute.

Where can you get Mother's Day decor like this for a desk?

X2Metal offers Mother's Day designs printed on glossy ChromaLuxe metal and sized for a desk, with matching 5mm mouse pads. Browse the Mothers Day Metal Prints collection. Everything is handcrafted in North Liberty, Iowa.

About the author: Business Alchemist | Turning Ideas into Products, Brands & Businesses | Navid Malik. Navid is the founder of X2Metal, a metal print studio in North Liberty, Iowa creating bold, durable metal prints and 5mm mouse pads.

Sources: National Park Service, Anna Maria Jarvis ↗, Library of Congress, Appeal to womanhood throughout the world, Julia Ward Howe, 1870 ↗, e-WV, The West Virginia Encyclopedia: Ann Reeves Jarvis ↗, HISTORY, Woodrow Wilson Proclaims the First Mother's Day Holiday ↗, Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, The History of Mother's Day ↗, National Retail Federation, Mother's Day Spending Expected to Hit Record $38 Billion ↗, National Retail Federation, Mother's Day Consumer Spending and Insights ↗. X2Metal is not affiliated with any organization mentioned in this post.

More From the Holidays World Blog

What Belongs on the Thanksgiving Table → · Why We Put Up Christmas Trees → · What Each Christmas Color Means → · Christmas Colors Came From Church Paint → · The Halloween Gift Nobody Tosses → · Fifteen Ways Halloween Hits Your Desk → · How Christmas Became a Legal Holiday → · The Accidental Colors of Mardi Gras → · The Legend of Stingy Jack: The Irish Origin of the Jack-o'-Lantern → · Mothers Day FAQs - Blog →