Posted on 02/18/2005 10:19:41 AM PST by an italian
Hallo eveybody!
I've a question for you!
Last summer I bought a calendar in NY (actually I bought it on the top of the Empire State Building...). Now, I've read on it that the 21st of February it's the "President's day".
What a strange celebration! We don't have it in Italy.
What do you do in America and what kind of celebration is it?
Tell me more, so I can join you!... Because... I ADORE YOUR PRESIDENT! :-)
Mostly some of get a day off, and there is no mail delivery...and of course, we all wear our little pictures of the current president all day long.
Some history of the holiday...
http://www.patriotism.org/presidents_day/
We used to celebrate Washington's birthday, but now it's presidents day, as best I can recall this was mostly a way to free up a holiday to allow for Martin Luther King Day without creating yet another Federal (hence, paid) Holiday. Ciao.
Forza Milan!
It's a dual birthday celebration for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, both born in February.
Ciao
Questa casa e un paradiso dopo lo strepito nelle trincee!
Originally this was to celebrate the birthday of George Washington.
Abraham Lincoln's birthday was also celebrated on February 12, in the NORTHERN part of the country; while the birthday of Robert E. Lee was celebrated in the SOUTHERN part of the country.
But when a holiday was added to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King in January, this meant there would be too many holidays, so Washington's and Lincoln's days were combined into "President's day"; and the South finally dropped Lee's birthday.
We used to have two separate holidays--George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays (a week apart). They were combined into a generic "President's Day".
I think most people just get a day off from work. I usually try to read about one of our former presidents, but I don't know if most people do anything special for the holiday.
Glad we have Italy's support.
Hello. I love your manicotti.
Mmm... Italy... :-)
Normally, President's Day is just another reason for kids to stay out of school, federal and state employees to get a paid vacation day, and furniture manufacturers to have Really Big Sales.
This year, my family will actually celebrate. We're going to plaster our van with all of our extra "Bush/Cheney" bumper stickers. Its sure to nauseate my neighbors!
Presidents Day started as our celebration of George Washington's Birthday (Washington was the first U.S. President) and Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (Lincoln was President during our Civil War and was assassinated in 1865). Both Lincoln and Washington were born during February. Eventually, we combined both days of celebration into a single day that honors both of them specifically, and really all of our Presidents (except Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter).
Ahhhh, you've touched on an odd bureaucratic holiday. Both Lincoln and Washington were born in February. We used to celebrate both men's birthday, on the actual day of birth. It was a minor celebration, mainly posters in school, and plays, no real holiday.
Then the bureaucrats got involved. They schemed to combine the two into one celebration, and then rename it, so as to pretend to be all inclusive of all presidents. Thus, it became presidents day, and was designated a national holiday. So, government workers get the day off, and the rest of us keep trying to make a living so we can pay the government workers.
(In November, as me about Veteran's Day, that one gets me going since I'm a Veteran who routinely works that day while the government workers that that day off too!)
Hey, welcome to our little corner of the world.
I'm so glad to hear you adore our president because most of us do too.
Actually Lee's birthday is combined with MLK's in some southern states.
I know a fair amount about Italia; where you from?
Second Italian newbie in about a week, as I recall. Welcome to FR!
In the early 1980s, when Martin Luther King's birthday was made a federal holiday, it was mentioned how we would now have at least three holidays in rapid succession: MLK Day, Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays, and that people would be getting too much time off from work. President's Day was resurrected as a poor compromise....every president, from the great (Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Reagan) would be lumped in with the forgettable (Chester Alan Arthur, Grover Cleveland), and the abysmal (Carter, Clinton, Wilson, Buchanan).
As far as I'm concerned, I celebrate the greats and ignore the rest as placeholders.
Happy President's Day.....and God Bless America.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.