… or May Not Day.

Yes, I know … its May Day.

First and foremost for me, it is my late Grandpap’s birthday.

Memories of crawling into his lap and being kept safe from thunder and lightning and all other dangers always run through my mind on May Day.

It is also Moving Day … when all the leases for renters would run out and you could move if you wanted to. And of course there are a few family stories of moving days in the past, before my Grandpap owned the house, I suppose.

But that was pretty much it, as far as I was concerned. A vague recollection of May Poles and dancing … but nothing I could get too excited about.

Then, to my surprise this morning I saw that there are many other celebrations wrapped up in the May 1st day.

Like Stillton, England … or Bryn Mawr, PA … or … well thanks to Julie Fishman I learned a lot more about May Day traditions. Here are the ones she mentions … shamelessly plagiarized by me.

Is it still plagiarizing if you give them credit?

First there are the Celts. As in Ireland and thereabouts. And the Romans. As in Italy. It seems that almost all of the celebrations have something to do with either workers or spring … or both.

• Celts called it Beltane and the Romans named it Floralia, but May 1 has been known as May Day since the Middle Ages.
• Ancient villagers celebrated the end of the harsh winter months and the start of the fertile summer months by feasting, frolicking and competing in games.
• Specific customs varied between countries: Making a bonfire was popular in Sweden, crowning a May Day queen was common in Ireland, and putting on plays was the tradition in Rome.
• In Hawaii, May 1 is known as Lei Day, a holiday conceived in 1927 by writer and poet Don Blanding for celebrating Hawaiian culture. The event originally included the selection of a Lei Day queen and court, but it has evolved into a less formal day of lei-making competitions, concerts, and the exchanging of leis (garlands of flowers) among friends and family.

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  May 1 (Photo credit: Farfahinne)

  Also known as International Workers’ Day, May Day has a connection to work that dates back to the late 19th century, when American laborers fought for an eight-hour workday. While the U.S. government moved our holiday, now known as Labor Day, to September, many countries still celebrate the labor movement on May 1.

• In much of Western Europe and parts of America, May Day is now celebrated with traditional folk dancing around a maypole, a tree-like totem that typically stands up to ten feet tall. At one time, this practice marked the beginning of courting season for young adults.
• In 1543, England built a Maypole that reached 100 feet, the country’s tallest. Isaac Newton eventually purchased the pole in 1713 and used it to prop up a massive telescope.
• Worried that the rowdy festival made people frisky, the Catholic Church banned May Day celebrations in the early 1600s. The clergy wasn’t the only group to point out May Day’s sexual undertones: Several historians have suggested that the maypole is a phallic symbol.
• The all-female Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania has been celebrating May Day since 1900. After gathering flowers in the morning, students decorate and dance around a maypole.
• No holiday is complete without traditional food and drink. Some favorite festive eats? In Finland, celebrants enjoy Tippaleivät, fried fritters similar to funnel cakes found at county fairs, while Germans wash their meal down with Maiwein, or May Wine.
• Every May Day, the town of Stilton, England, celebrates with a cheese-rolling contest. Costumed teams compete to roll a wooden “cheese” wheel down the city’s main street to the finish line.

Now while all of this is really interesting, and I really appreciate all of Julie’s hard work … May Day will always be Grandpap’s Birthday to me.

It’s a Grandaughter thing.