Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
M
ay 8 is Mothers’ Day. It is now
an international holiday in
more than 40 nations. In fact,
various celebrations of mothers have
existed for centuries. One might say hon-
oring our moms is a universal tradition.
There is clear evidence that, in the
United States, there were celebrations
of mom long before the
20th century. The current
American Mother’s Day
is credited to Anna Jarvis
of West Virginia, who
declared such a day in
1908. President Woodrow
Wilson made Mother’s Day
an official U.S. holiday in
1914, to be held annually on the second
Sunday in May.
Ironically, Jarvis later tried to remove
Mother’s Day from the calendar because
she thought it had become too commer-
cial. Regardless of its commercializa-
tion — not unlike many other holidays
in America — Mother’s Day remains a
special occasion for our moms and their
families.
Beginning in its first year of publi-
cation, Mother’s Day was a celebrated
holiday in the Detroit Jewish Chronicle.
The JN has also never failed to honor
Mom on her day. Indeed, Mother’s Day is
mentioned on 3,610 pages of the William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish
Detroit History in thousands of stories
and advertisements for Mother’s Day gifts
and for restaurants serving special menus
for mom.
The first advertisement that promoted
gifts for Mother’s Day was in the May
12, 1916, Chronicle. Florista Telegraph
Delivery suggested that Mom would like
flowers on her day. Another early Florista
ad was a beautiful work of graphic art
that included a mom and her son in the
Army (May 11, 1917) — the U.S. had
just entered World War I in April of that
year. Two years later, the Florista ad for
May 5, 1919, was jubilant: “Happy is the
one who can bring home a few flowers to
Mother.
”
Michigan Gov. Albert E. Sleeper’s
Mother’s Day proclamation was pub-
lished on the front page of that same
issue. This was one of the earliest homag-
es to our moms in the local Jewish press.
In the May 5, 1917, issue of the
Chronicle, the Atlas Floral Company
of Detroit suggested that readers
“Remember the Mothers in Israel.
” It’s an
interesting ad since it would be another
31 years before the State of Israel was
officially established. But I think readers
got the point. Planting trees in Israel in
honor of Mom became a standard rec-
ommendation for many years. For exam-
ple, see the article in the May 5, 1950, JN:
“Detroit Jews are Asked to Plant Trees in
Israel on Mother’s Day.
”
Many great stories have been published
about Jewish moms in Metro Detroit. I
cannot cite them all, but here are a few
highlights. The cover of the May 8, 1998,
JN features a lovely photo of Marissa
and Gail Wiener. It also notes
that the feature story is “Love
Letters from Mom.
” Speaking
of love letters, the May 10, 2020,
JN, has a series of notes from the
mouths of babes, so to speak:
“My Mom is Special Because ...
”
This is a really fun read. Or on
a more serious note, see “Mom
Power” in the May 10, 2000,
issue. On Mother’s Day that year,
“Jewish moms joined the nation in
support of stricter gun laws.
”
I need to make just one more
point for a special reader — Hi,
Mom!
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN
Foundation archives, available for free at
www.djnfoundation.org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
62 | MAY 5 • 2022