Happy Labor Day 2023

Happy Labor Day 2023!!!

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day is observed on the first Monday in September each year and has been since 1894. It’s a celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. It recognizes the many contributions workers have made to our country’s strength, prosperity and well being.

Even before it was an official federal holiday, Labor Day was celebrated by labor activists and individual states. Municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886 which led to a movement to secure state legislations. A bill was introduced in New York first, but Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day on February 21, 1887. During that year Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York all passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By the end of the 1880s Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had joined the group. And by 1894, 23 more states were added to the list of states that had adopted the holiday. On June 28, 1894 Congress passed an act that was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland, making the first Monday in September an annual legal holiday.

New research supports the theory that Matthew Maguire, who later became the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882. He did so while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

We usually celebrate Labor Day with picnics, parties, parades and barbecues to celebrate the fact that American labor has raised our country’s standard of living.

For The Traveling Locavores, it usually meant celebrating at the Jersey shore. But this year, for us, we’re breaking our tradition and staying in South Florida to continue visiting with family and friends. We are happy to celebrate, not only Labor Day, but life in general.