Anna Jarvis, spinning in grave
Teleflora's Flower Blog just posted on Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day. There's a tidy overview of Anna's efforts to get Mother's Day recognized as a formal holiday, which segues nicely into a Teleflora promotion. Jacqueline, who edits the site, writes:
Anna Jarvis was definitely inspired by her mother. Bet she’d appreciate America’s Favorite Mom contest presented by Teleflora.
Yeah, probably not so much. Jacqueline nicely avoids mentioning how the commercialization of Mother's Day ate Anna alive, driving her to denounce the popularized holiday with twice the vigor that she originally pushed for it. The infallible Wikipedia quotes Anna:
A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment!
We've been mulling over how Banana Florist should celebrate the upcoming 100th anniversary of the first Mother's Day celebration. There's more to it for us than the big centennial.
See, I'm related to Anna. She and I both go back to when Daniel Jarvis left behind spotted dick for corn meal and venison, depriving all future generations of cool English accents and a droll sense of humor. (Well, maybe not all of us on that last count.)
Here's what we're currently thinking:
I wriggle my way onto Good Day Atlanta and chat with Suchita about the 100th anniversary, Banana Florist, etc. The hook being: Relative of woman who started Mother's Day is co-founder of Atlanta-exclusive florist. Maybe Suchita would even let me set something on fire. (If you haven't seen our video, check it out, here.)
But if we're going to pimp Anna's name along with everyone else, we should at least pay homage to her ideals. Anna thought so highly of her mother, Ann, partially because of the elder Jarvis' community work. Ann provided care to soldiers returning from the Civil War. More importantly, she busted ass to reconcile communities ripped apart by the War, introducing mothers of Rebs to mothers of Yanks, prompting healing within the community.
So, for every Mom Likes Me Best purchased for Mother's Day, a donation to an Atlanta veteran's group seems appropriate. All of this stuff is still in the idea stage; we're still not exactly sure how we'll move forward. Any thoughts?