06: Study Notes
This week I learned about Presidents Day.
This week’s bits ‘n’ bobs in life and culture.
Life
I went down an American holiday rabbit hole because this weekend is anchored by two, one that garners many, many thoughts and the other that is an always-missed three-day weekend.
I learned that Presidents Day is actually in honor of President Washington’s birthday (the 22nd). Unbeknownst to me, the federal holiday is still officially called Washington’s Birthday, but because it always falls on the third Monday of February, near both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays (the 12th), it unofficially became Presidents Day. To make things even more confusing, not every state calls it (or spells it) Presidents Day. Some states honor just Washington, others, Washington and Lincoln, two states honor Washington and someone else, and Delaware doesn’t even observe.
This all led me to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act alt. Uniform Monday Holiday Law alt. Uniform Holiday Bill.
In 1968, Congress enacted the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which pinned a handful of federal holidays to a specific Monday each month. Before this Act, holidays like Washington’s Birthday and Memorial Day were always on the same date, which meant they fell on different days every year. This disrupted the federal work week to have everyone take a Tuesday off one year, then a Wednesday the next.
So, instead of celebrating on whatever date the holidays fell on, Congress moved them all to Monday. Example, Memorial Day moved from May 30th to the last Monday in May, and Presidents, the third Monday in February.
This seems all well and good and efficient. But, we all know there isn’t one American holiday that isn’t rooted in some good ol’ lobbying and money. This Act isn’t really about streamlining, it’s about…three-day weekends and shopping.
Jennifer Mittelstadt, a history professor at Rutgers University, notes “travel organizations had been pushing for three-day weekends like this since the 1950s, and they finally got the employee unions on board and the federal employee unions on board because there was a fair amount of agreement that it’d be good for business.”
According to the National Archives, the organizations that endorsed the bill included the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Travel Organizations, and the National Retail Federation. Their pitch to Congress was that “Monday holidays would improve commercial and industrial production by minimizing midweek holiday interruptions” and that “the three-day span of leisure time would allow our citizens greater participation in their hobbies as well as in educational and cultural activities.”
The signing President at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, shared similar sentiments in a statement about the bill: “This will mean a great deal to our families and our children. It will enable families who live some distance apart to spend more time together. Americans will be able to travel farther and see more of this beautiful land of ours. They will be able to participate in a wider range of recreational and cultural activities.”
If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense! 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🦅 🦅‼️‼️
My book shelf
Last month I read two internet-famous books: Lost Lambs and Heart the Lover.
I enjoyed Lost Lambs because I had no idea where this book was going. I found myself saying “sure, what the hell” many, many times. Not in a sunk cost way, but a this is still fun way. At its best, were the chronicles of the daughters, especially Harper and Louise. At its strangest was the ending. Overall, a joyfully entertaining.
Heart the Lover was remarkably disappointing, especially coming off of rave reviews from ~the internet~. I guess I’ll leave it at that.
My browser tabs
Not a lot this week!
American Girl is publishing a brand new book, aimed at adults. In it, Samantha is now in her 20s, in New York, teaching everyone about voting rights, but then lured into “hunt for clues in the city’s criminal underbelly.” An American Girl and Tammany Hall collab??