Why do we celebrate Mother's Day?

Many people assume that Mother's Day was thought up by one of the large printed cards manufactures, of big florists, but to find the historical origins we have to go way back in time.

The earliest recorded day to honour 'mothers' date back to the spring festival the ancient Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and also to the offerings the Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. It is also believed that many Christians celebrated a special festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Painted Flowers Mother's Day Ecard

In England the religious holiday was subsequently expanded to include all mothers and was named Mothering Sunday. Workers would return to their homes on Mothering Sunday with gifts, or special cakes for their mothers. The whole family would attend church together and  a lavish dinner of roast lamb, or veal was prepared, at which mother was treated as queen for the day and everything was done to make her happy and comfortable.

The custom of celebrating Mothering Sunday became common practice during the 19th century. The day was celebrated with a festive mood and the dish of the day was called furmety. It consisted of wheat grains boiled in sweet milk, then sugar and spice was added. In recent times, as society has evolved the day is now generally referred to as Mother's Day in many western countries.

Fairies Ecard

The above mentioned 'mothering cake' also went by the name of Simnel cake, similar to a Christmas cake. It was first boiled in water and then baked and it sometimes had an almond icing at other times the crust was of flour and water, coloured with saffron, but usually it was covered in  a layer of marzipan, then toasted, and eaten during the Easter period. A layer of almond paste was also baked into the middle of the cake and the top of the cake, around the edge, were eleven marzipan balls to represent the disciples of Jesus with Judas omitted. In some variations Christ was also represented on the cake by a ball placed at the middle.

In the United States, Mother's Day has been observed for over 150 years. Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian housewife, organised a day to raise awareness of the bad health conditions suffered by many in her community, a cause she believed would be best served by the local community mothers, she called it 'Mother's Work Day'. It did not take long to spread all over the states, the governor of West Virginia issued the first Mother's Day proclamation in 1910 and Oklahoma followed suit and celebrated it in that same year. By 1911, all of the states in the Union had its own Mother's Day celebrations.

Fox Cub Mothers Day Ecard

Anna's daughter, after her death (who was also called Anna) began to lobby prominent businessmen and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a day in honor of the all mothers. At one of the first church services organised to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908,  Anna handed out white carnations which happened to be her mother's favorite flower. A few years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the government to also wear a white carnation on Mother's Day. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson finally signed a bill creating Mother's Day as a national holiday and it has been an entry on the spring calendar ever since.

People observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and also by giving greeting cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing prevalence in gift giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became very angry, she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of business greed and profit. Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States and all over the world and has become one of the years biggest celebrations with a large associated industry providing cards, gifts and flowers.

Mother's day is a wonderful way of thanking your Mother for all she has done for you and many people show their thanks in different ways with cards and gifts, chocolates, flowers, breakfast in bed, days out or even weekends away. Why not try something new this year and send a mothers day e-card, we have many wonderful animated e cards which I am sure any mother would love to receive! But don't forget to get her lots of gifts too!

Deepest Sympathy E-card Sunset at Sea

Sympathy e cards are certainly the most difficult to design as they need to be sensitive and solemn, but not too depressing. I think we have succeeded in creating one that someone recently bereaved will consider appropriate at their time of loss.

We have also created a version of this card for the blank category, so it can be sent for other occasions as well.

A truly 'SUPER' Mothers Day Ecard

We all consider our mothers to be extra special, now you can let her know by sending her our new Mother's Day Ecard 'Supermum' on this April 3rd. Before celebrating her special day with her children, Supermum only has to save the planet a few times first, Phew!

By sending one of our ecards (there are TEN to choose from for Mothers Day) you will also be doing your bit for to help save our planet. Ecards are virtually carbon neutral, easy to send and fun to receive.

What to give on Mothers Day? A Fabulous E card

Please don’t forget Mother’s Day this year, it is on the 3rd of April in the U.K. (and it’s on Sunday May 08 in the U.S of A.)

Mother’s day is the perfect time to show how much you love and care for the special woman in your life and thank her for all she has done for you over the years. Your gift does not always have to be terribly expensive; she will not mind how much you spend, because any gift you give will be appreciated by her, whatever your budget.

Why not send her a Mothers Day ecard this year, we have a wide range for you to choose from!
And for the gift, flowers are always a good idea, and there are some beautiful varieties in the florists at the moment. Chocolates are also a winner, my favs come from Hotel Chocolat  (if my children are reading this). However, there are so many other choices these days, from a pamper session at your local spa, a day out shopping, a meal, a trip to the theater or even the cinema. There are so many fantastic things you can do together I am sure she will enjoy whatever you decide.

New Business Ecards Launched

Katie’s Cards are proud to announce the launch of a new section of the website, the facility for Business, companies and organizations to send Business Ecards, directly through our website.

At present there are 25 Static Christmas Ecards and 12 animated ecards available to send. Just select the card that is right for your company, upload your logo, festive message and add your website link, then send out to all your clients, customers and staff. It is as easy as you like and green as Christmas holly.

Hilarious Classic April Fools’ Day Pranks

April Fools’ day is approaching fast so I thought you might be amused by some stories of pranks from over the years:

In 1957 the BBC TV programme Panorama ran a famous April Fools’ hoax, showing Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest the evil spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans and not Switzerland at all.

It was 1962 and a Swedish national television did a 5 minute special on how to get colour TV by placing a nylon stocking in front of your screen. An in-depth description on the physics behind the phenomenon followed.

1976, a British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that at precisely 9:47 that day a unique alignment of two solar system planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people feel lighter. He invited his audience to experience “a strange floating sensation” by jumping up in the air. Manu of his listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.

1980, the BBC reported a proposed change to the famous Houses of Parliament clock tower known as Big Ben. The reporter stated that the clock was going to go digital!

1983, Australian millionaire businessman Dick Smith claimed he had towed a huge iceberg from Antarctica to Sydney Harbour. He covered an old barge with white plastic sheeting and fire extinguisher foam to convince the witnesses.

1998, where a classic April Fool jest by Burger King ran an ad in the USA Today, stating that you could get a Whopper created specifically for left handed people, it was said that the condiments were designed to drip out of the right side only. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the “old”, right handed burger.

In 2004, GMTV the British breakfast show broadcast a piece claiming that Yorkshire Water were trialing a new ‘diet tap water’ which had already helped one customer lose a stone and a half in only four months! After heralding the trial as successful, it was claimed that a third tap would be added to kitchen sinks, allowing customers easy access to the slimming water. Following the story, Yorkshire Water received 10,000 enquiries from fooled viewers.

2006, the BBC reported that the door to No.10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, had been painted bright red and showing footage of workmen carrying a red door. The Labour party which formed the government at the time, has red as their official colour. The story was also reported in the British newspaper, The Daily Mail which credited the new design to April Fewell.

2008, on April 1st the BBC reported on a newly discovered arctic colony of flying penguins. There was even a elaborate video segment broadcast, featuring Terry Jones (from Monty Python fame) walking with the penguins in Antarctica, and then following their flight to the Amazon rain forest.

Here at Katie’s cards we have created a new mind bending new for April fools day e card, which is available to send through the site.