• 52: The Creator of Mother's Day Tried to Destroy it

  • Apr 30 2025
  • Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
  • Podcast

52: The Creator of Mother's Day Tried to Destroy it

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  • Summary

  • Mother’s Day. When Anna Jarvis founded the holiday, she envisioned it as a day for everyone to honor and thank their mothers. She worked tirelessly to promote the holiday. She hoped it would be celebrated around the globe.

    But after a few years, Anna noticed that Mother’s Day was becoming… commercialized. Anna was incensed. She went to war against florists, greeting card makers and anyone else who might make a profit on Mother’s Day. Her anger even spilled over onto charities that used the holiday to help fundraise for mothers in need. By the end of her life, Anna Jarvis figured that if she could bring Mother’s Day into this world, she could also be the one to end it.

    Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from:
    “The mother of mother’s day,” by Daniel Mark Epstein for The Philadelphia Inquirer
    “The founder of mother’s day mostly cared about her own mother,” by Nina Martin for Mother Jones
    “Anna Jarvis: The woman who regretted creating mother’s day,” by Vibeke Venema for the BBC
    “Battling the Mother’s Day monster,” The Ottawa Citizen
    “Why Mother’s Day founder Anna Jarvis later fought to have the holiday abolished,” by Jonathan Mulinix for Mental Floss
    “How the founder of Mother’s Day died alone, childless and penniless in an insane asylum,” by Laura T. Coffey for Today.com
    “Who made America?” for PBS.org

    Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

    Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
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