Labor Day

The logic of having Labor Day on the first Monday in September has always escaped me. I know for an absolute fact that Labor Day should be celebrated on Jan 6th, Feb 15th, March 31st, July 21st, or July 26th. It’s just got to be one of THOSE Days. I know. I’ve experienced it.

Historians have missed the whole point of Labor Day. They tell you that it all started with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and 19th centuries. America needed people to run its factories and machines, and millions answered the call. They came from the farms to the cities in search of the American dream. You know, a horse in every stable and ice in every box–that kind of thing. They wanted security and a stable income. What many of them got however was l2 to 14 hour shifts working in sometimes dangerous conditions with poor pay and little chance of advancement. As individuals, they could not influence companies to improve working conditions, so they began to form labor organizations who would bargain for all employees.

As the importance of those every day workers came to be recognized, the idea of a day honoring them was suggested around 1880 by Peter J. McGuire, founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City by the Knights of Labor with a picnic. (Yes! What a great idea)

By 1894, 23 states had Labor Day legislation on their books and the Federal Government declared the first Monday in September to be a day set aside to honor the labors and contributions of the American worker.

Today Labor Day is primarily celebrated as the last holiday of the summer. It’s the final long weekend, a chance to take the boat out, have a barbecue, go water skiing, empty your last bottle of sun screen, make some homemade ice cream, or even enjoy some backpacking. In some areas there are parades and speeches as well.

As for myself, well, none of my children or granchildren are home to celebrate Labor Day (....maybe they’ll call....maybe they’ll send an e-mail...maybe they’ll comment on my blog) after all, I worked hard to get them here. Dean is at work, so I’m going to relax and watch a movie.

Some Labor Day movie suggestions are:

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Bound For Glory (1976)
Norma Rae (1979)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Nine to Five (1980)
The Pursuit of Happiness (2006)

Raspberry Orange Ice Cream
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
juice from one large orange
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup half-and-half cream
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place the raspberries in a blender; cover and process on medium-high speed until chopped. Combine all ingredients in the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Stir in sugar is dissolved. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Or

Frozen Cherry Yogurt
5 cups fresh or frozen dark, sweet cherries, pitted and thawed
10 cups plain yogurt
2 1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar melted honey
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Puree half of the cherries in blender. Set aside remaining whole cherries. Combine pureed cherries with yogurt, whipping cream, honey and vanilla. Freeze as directed. Remove DASHER and stir in reserved whole cherries before ripening.