{"id":7009,"date":"2020-09-02T13:32:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T20:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vionicshoes.com\/blog\/?p=7009"},"modified":"2020-09-03T12:02:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T19:02:05","slug":"labor-day-work-this-info","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vionicshoes.com\/blog\/labor-day-work-this-info\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor Day: Work This Info"},"content":{"rendered":"
Everything You Wanted to Know About Your Favorite September Holiday<\/span><\/i><\/h5>\n

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Ah, Labor Day. Hard to believe it\u2019s here already. Many of us likely enjoy the day off without giving much thought to what it\u2019s about. In terms of getting some rest for the fruits of our labor, the numbers suggest we\u2019ve earned it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Statistics show that Americans work longer hours annually than citizens of most other countries: 137 hours more per year than Japan, 260 hours more than the United Kingdom, and 499 hours more than France. And our productivity is high\u2014400% higher than it was in 1950\u2014so, yeah, we totally deserve a day off. Luckily this weekend, Labor Day is it!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cDays off\u201d such as Labor Day, however, and paid vacation time or even weekends weren\u2019t always a thing. We owe all of that to the victories of labor unions and worker uprisings and over the past 230 years or so; the first of which occurred in 1835 when a group of Philadelphia carpenters famously went on strike demanding a shorter work day. Not sure how many hours they themselves were clocking, but since they achieved their goal of a 10 hour workday it must\u2019ve been a lot! Their efforts, along with those of many others over many more decades of protest, eventually led to the 8-hour workdays, 40-hour work weeks and other workplace protections we enjoy today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The inventor of Labor Day itself? Well, the answer to that is a little murky (as history can sometimes be) with a couple of different people taking credit. Prevailing legend gives it to <\/span>yet<\/span><\/i> another<\/span><\/i> carpenter, Peter McGuire (a New Yorker this time), who stood before the city\u2019s Central Labor Union in May 1882 proclaiming a plan to honor all workers with a parade all over town. It would allow the general public to recognize and appreciate the work of trade and labor organizations, and a festival would follow for the amusement of everyone. No surprise, McGuire\u2019s idea took root (who doesn\u2019t love that parade\/festival combo?) and the first Labor Day celebration was first held in The Big Apple on September 5, 1882. It was repeated over subsequent years in cities around the country, and eventually became a federal holiday in 1894.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As for why we in America honor this celebration of \u201cthe working class\u201d on the first Monday in September versus on May 1<\/span>st<\/span>\u2014aka \u201cMay Day\u201d\u2014which is the tradition around much of the rest of the world? Seems the objective here was to create a new day off in the long gap of holidays between Independence Day on July 4<\/span>th<\/span> and Thanksgiving, the last Thursday in November. If you\u2019ve ever wondered (and really, who hasn\u2019t?), now it all makes sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Roasted turkey, of course, defines Thanksgiving, and BBQs are quintessentially Labor Day. No big surprise given that <\/span>it is <\/span><\/i>still summer after all! But as it\u2019s dubbed the \u201cunofficial\u201d <\/span>last weekend<\/span><\/i> of summer (before the masses return to routine following a more relaxed schedule since Memorial Day), there\u2019s extra pressure to make the Labor Day cookout count! An article published in <\/span>The Bakersfield Californian<\/span><\/i> in 1907 shows that by the early 1900s, BBQs had already become a standard Labor Day activity:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cAt noon time a great barbecue will be served at the park. This, like everything else in the day\u2019s entertainment, being free to holders of the entrance ticket, in the form of a tag. Joe Yancey and Joe Mackey have this most important feature of the day\u2019s entertainment in charge and promise that the hungry public shall be fed bountifully. Beef will be roasted in the good old Spanish style, and there will be plenty of other eatables in sight.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Delicious as \u201cSpanish-style beef\u201d sounds, nationaltoday.com says the \u201ceatables\u201d are slightly less exotic these days. According to its survey, 67% of Americans will fire-up the grill at some point over Labor Day weekend, with 70% of them putting burgers on the menu followed by hot dogs at 51%.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This distant, second-place finish by hot dogs is a little surprising given that the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (who knew?) says this time of year is officially \u201cHot Dog Season,\u201d adding that Americans consume roughly 7 billion hot dogs between <\/span>Memorial Day and Labor Day\u2014or about 818 of them every second. WOW! Rounding-out the Labor Day list of delicacies for Americans who will BBQ is c<\/span>hicken at 40%, steak at 37% and ribs at 32%, with some vegan options in there for good measure too. Truth told, we\u2019re good with all of it and are just happy to be invited to the feast. What time’s dinner? We\u2019ll bring desert.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Certainly there\u2019s no downside that we can see to any BBQ, other than the fairly high likelihood of getting BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard or relish on your outfit (or all the above)\u2014and when that happens (which is always) your outfit is often (as fate would have it) a white one, right? Though such \u201caccidents\u201d are a bummer, the good news is you\u2019ll have lots of time to get your white clothes clean. Why? As the legendary Labor Day fashion rule states, you\u2019re not supposed to wear white after this weekend until next spring anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Or are you? And what is up with this \u201crule\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

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For the record: <\/span>we\u2019re<\/span><\/i> of the opinion that wearing what you like will always be right, even if that means white clothes or shoes after Labor Day. It seems society\u2014particularly high society\u2014hasn\u2019t always been quite so flexible, as explained in this September 2011 excerpt from <\/span>Time Magazine<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cHistorians think this maxim stems from class divisions at the turn of the 20<\/span><\/i>th<\/span><\/i> century when lightweight clothes were a symbol of the leisure classes. Back then, Labor Day marked the time the affluent returned from vacation, packed away the summer clothes and went back to school and work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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While there’s a practical reason for the rule \u2014 white clothes dirty easily thus making them ill-suited for heavy autumn rains and winter slush \u2014 those who carried the rule through the decades had a less than practical reason for doing so.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Indeed, as the years went by, traditionalists and nouveau riche alike continued to eschew winter whites throughout the 20th century in order to remain acceptable in high society. But where there’s a rule, there is always a rule breaker… and today many people have moved toward a seasonless wardrobe, wearing white in all seasons \u2014 tradition be damned.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Regardless of how the rule originated, with all fashion insiders these days overlooking it, we\u2019re pretty sure it\u2019s a done deal. Keep out your whites, let there be light.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Let there be darkness, though, for the final tid-bit in this blog of Labor Day lusciousness\u2014or at least a dimly-lit room and comfy couch to cozy up on.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Watching a worker-themed film is also a good way to get into the Labor Day spirit. Might sound like a drag, but chances are you\u2019ve already seen and enjoyed more of them than you realize. 1979\u2019s <\/span>Norma Rae<\/span><\/i> (which won Sally Field her first Oscar), 2005\u2019s <\/span>North Country<\/span><\/i> (which garnered Charlize Theron a nomination) and the 1989 Michael Moore documentary <\/span>Roger & Me<\/span><\/i> are among the more well-known that come to mind, but there are lots of others that honor working men and women and the labor movement too. <\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i> curated a<\/span> list<\/span><\/a> of several others that are worth a watch, which we are happy to share. Pass the popcorn please.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Whether you\u2019re kissing a carpenter (or a few!) for giving us this holiday, firing some hot dogs on the grill, tidying your whities for another year, or watching Sally Field get mad <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> even in <\/span>Norma Rae,<\/span><\/i> we wish you an amazing, restful weekend in preparation for a productive fall ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Happy Labor Day!<\/b><\/h3>\n

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SHOP LABOR DAY SALE<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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SHOP WOMEN’S<\/a> | SHOP MEN’S<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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