The progressive history of Mother’s Day (and where to buy socially conscious gifts to celebrate)
Before buying gifts for our loved ones this year, we take a moment to reflect on the history of Mother’s Day.
Each year when Mother’s Day rolls around, we’re faced with the commercial holiday it’s become, complete with Hallmark cards and expensive flowers. However, the holiday as we know it now actually has a feminist history rooted in radical social change.
In 1858, an American woman and mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, coordinated Mothers’ Day Work Clubs to improve the sanitary conditions that led to terrible infant mortality rates in her community. Then, in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War, she organised a Mother’s Friendship Day in West Virginia to bring people from the North and South together.
Fifteen years later, American feminist, abolitionist, reformer, and mother Julia Ward Howe established “Mothers’ Peace Day” in protest of war, further convincing people that a celebration of mothers was needed. After Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, one of her daughters, Anna Jarvis, held a small service in her mother’s honour and in 1914, Mother’s Day was made an official holiday celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year. Sadly, Anna spent the rest of her days resenting the commercialisation of her creation.
Here in the UK, Mother’s Day, or “Mothering Sunday”, has a more traditional origin. It falls three weeks before Easter on the fourth Sunday of Lent as during the Middle Ages, people who had moved away from where they grew up came back to visit their home or ‘mother’ churches, and their actual mothers.
Ann Reeves Jarvis embodies the profound and powerful importance of motherhood, which looks different to everyone. So whether you have a special mother, sister, godmother, aunt, friend, mother figure or any other important person in your life, it can be nice to celebrate with a thoughtful (and socially responsible) gift. Here are a few ideas:
Clothes and Accessories by Birdsong
A fitting company to celebrate Mother’s Day, Birdsong pays a London Living Wage to women facing barriers to work and the organisations that support them. Its mission is to lift women and their families out of poverty in some of the poorest boroughs in the UK. From dresses to bags, footwear and jewellery, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your dreamy garment is ethical and sustainable.
Seed Bomb Craft Kit by Dream Green
Got a green-thumbed mum? Guerrilla gardening could be your new shared hobby. Dream Green’s seed bombs are an essential tool in any guerrilla gardener’s arsenal, and their Seed Bomb Craft Kits contain everything you need to make 50 seed bombs. Grow on the go by creating vibrant pockets of colour and pollinator habitats in your path.
Jewellery by Pivot
You could get your loved one jewellery, or you could get them jewellery that empowers people experiencing homelessness to pivot their lives through making and enterprise. Pivot’s mission is to bring purpose, meaning and flexible employment to those who might otherwise not have access to it, and in doing so, giving them the confidence and skills they need to take steps away from temporary accommodation. Even if the recipient isn’t much of a jewellery-wearer, Pivot’s signature metal bookmark makes the perfect thoughtful gift, and their bottle openers and keyrings are definite crowd-pleasers.
Dinner at Ebury or Sohalia
If you prefer to give the gift of quality time (and delicious food), Fat Macy’s restaurant offerings are the answer. Sohalia is a mission-driven natural wine bar and contemporary Lebanese restaurant in the heart of Shoreditch, and Ebury is a restaurant and deli with light bites and artisanal products from local suppliers and other socially-minded businesses. Get a voucher to dine in or some goodies to enjoy later.
Gift wrap by Nudos
No present would be complete without a bit of flourish, but wrapping paper is an environmental no-no. Nudos is an easy-peasy alternative to the consistent and irreversible damage that single-use gift wrap causes to the Earth. Using materials like deadstock fabric discarded by fashion houses and recycled plastic bottles, Nudos is on a mission to spark a gift-wrap revolution.
