I was surprised to see in the comments of my May Day post that many of you didn't know about May Day and that you haven't ever experienced the sheer joy of discovering candy delivered secretly to your doorstep. I'm so sorry for you.
Honestly, I didn't know much about the why behind May Day until a few minutes ago when I surfed around wikipedia and a couple of other sites for the history on this holiday. All I knew was candy. When I was little we would make May baskets out of construction paper or dixie cups and fill them with popcorn and candy and deliver them to our friends. It is a tradition I have carried on with my own children, without really knowing why. Now I do.
Ok. So it's another one of those controversial holidays. Pagans and fertility and druids and flower goddesses and all sorts of things are involved. Yippee! The Puritans put the axe down on this holiday of course. Maybe that is why you all aren't enjoying the sugar coma that we are over here. Darn those candy hating Puritans. Here is a little blurb I read on a holiday history website:
"The Puritans frowned on May Day, so the day has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the United States as in Great Britain. But the tradition of celebrating May Day by dancing and singing around a maypole, tied with colorful streamers or ribbons, survived as a part of the English tradition. The kids celebrating the day by moving back and forth around the pole with the the streamers, choosing of May queen, and hanging of May baskets on the doorknobs of folks -- are all the leftovers of the old European traditions."
While I don't believe in celebrating flower goddesses and druids and fertility....(wait, maybe the fertility, ) I do think it's fun to let the kids celebrate spring by surprising their friends with treats. We don't dance around the May Pole or anything crazy like that. Although it has crossed my mind to duct tape the kids to the basketball hoop, just to keep them in our yard, does that count?
If you want to start this little tradition in your neighborhood next year, with the sole intent of trying to get people to reciprocate of course, here are some ideas for cute May baskets. They are obviously ones you are going to want to plan ahead to make, not just wing at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Here is a bee one.
And a cute duck.
Or maybe a heart.
Please fill them with candy, not flowers. No child prefers flowers over candy. Or maybe that's just my kids. You could go with the cute shoes and purse thing though if you are planning on bringing it to my house. Even better, fill a cute purse with cute shoes.
Or you could do like us and fill plastic cups with popcorn and twizzlers, a standard May Day tradition. Ok, enough history lesson for today. I'm off to eat out of my secret stash of chocolate that I stole from amongst the popcorn, twizzlers, and skittles. *evil laugh*
14 comments:
I REALLY want to do this next year(as I said in your last post)!! I do I do...now if only I can remember!! And like so many of the other ladies I have never ever ever seen this done before. When I was a litle girl in school I made one and gave it away, but that was that. So cool to do something that says Im thinking of you!
the fertility god, haha! Noah made the bee at Kathy's, it's adorable.. but it wasn't for me and so now it's gone.. you enjoy that chocolate!! (hide it and give the kids the popcorn and nibs) the first may day basket i ever received was from you!
I'm enriched.
I've heard of leaving flowers, but never actually participated or met anyone who has done it. Nobody has ever left anything but new phone books on our doorstep. I always thought it was a tradition from long, long ago.
It's nice to hear it is still around! Maybe next year we'll give it a whirl, with candy. See what you've started?
All I can think of is the song "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats because the video for it has sort of a renaissance theme going and people dancing around a May Pole. But I've never known it was a May Pole until today's history lesson...thanks sweets. *smooch*
Put a reminder in your PDA for next year and you can post a reminder here as well...get all geared up for May-Day-Oh-Eight!
May-Day-Oh-Eight!
May-Day-Oh-Eight!
I can't wait for
May-Day-Oh-Eight!
That's awesome. I had no idea about this. Actually I'm behind on reading posts so I need to read your last one too. That sounds so fun though.
I posted an update about what we emailed last week...
You ARE the Fertility Goddess. And, we love you for it.
That is surprising to me that people have not done May Day before. I also think that you should do a blog reminder next year right around April 28th. That way we have a couple days notice.
Hey - I tagged you for something.
Yes, I said TAGGED.
Details are on my blawg.
Thanks for the enlightment! It was funny, I was standing at the calendar on May 1st and asked my girls if it was a holiday or something. I vaguely remembered. They looked blankly at me. I said, "like April 1st is April Fools day, that kind of holiday."
I do remember learning that May Pole dance you mentioned, I think in kindergarten/1st grade with the ribbons. I don't recall getting candy. THAT I would have remembered.
Thanks for filling us in on this holiday. I was the same way, celebrated it as a kid but had no idea what was behind the holiday.
I am not afraid of this holiday! :) One time, as a kid I made up a little basket and rang a doorbell and ran away. In my blue-collar neighborhood, this confused the recipient and my parents, who never heard of such a thing. I was always doing weird, sentimental things, in their eyes. I must've seen it on TV because no one I knew knew anything about it. Thanks for the post!
Heth, Good News: our friendship goes beyond the "Uhn-chas" of Blake! It takes all kinds to keep this globe spinning, including those who tune in to AI regularly to the chagrin of others. We are of that ilk! Friends!
This sounds like fun!!
Do you have pictures of your plastic-cup treat-filled genious?
Thanks for explaining to me. Because I had wondered.
yeah RIGHT... only the overachievers will make those ducks and bees... when you have to do a thousand of those things forget it.
:)
We had to do a few this year, you know, to show julia how it's done. She thought it was cute.
I am going to do this with my kids next year!!! My father is from Scotland and his family is all still in GB. I think I do remember doing a little something when I was young. My kids will love it and so will my neighbors!
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