When I attempted to give an explanation about the meaning of Labor Day to Charlie, he said to me, “I don’t think you really know what you’re talking about, Mom. You should probably look it up.”

And so I did some minor Google research and, much to my relief, I was right about the WHY – a day in honor of the work force and a holiday that in some ways underscored the growth and solidity of labor unions but I was way off on the WHEN. I thought Labor Day was a holiday of the 1920s or 1930s. Wrong! The Labor Day holiday was first proposed in 1882 and the state of Oregon, in 1887, was the first to make it a holiday. By 1894, 30 more states in the US had made Labor Day an official holiday.

I thought you should know…in case Charlie were ever to ask you.