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May, 2018 The Antique Shoppe Page 15
MAY DAY - FORGOTTEN HOLIDAY
by Roy Nuhn
May Day. It’s a long-forgotten holiday that was once
enthusiastically celebrated. But that was during the 19th
century and the earliest decades of the 20th. Luckily for
us, we have many, many postcards of this once widely
enjoyed rite of spring.
May Day goes back to at least the time of the Romans
who honored the goddess Flora with the yearly festival.
For countless centuries afterward, it was celebrated by
various Latin and Germanic tribes.
In Colonial times in this country May Day was the
cause of joyous revelry. A garlanded pole occupied a
place of honor in such activities; it was the central focus
of the joy-filled times. The early Puritan fathers of New
England, however, disapproved of May Day and sternly Part of postcard set by J. Percy Clarke, photographer.
punished all those caught up in its holiday spirit.
For most of the 1800 to 1940 era in this country, May
Day was a young people’s holiday and even more so a
children’s affair for most of the 20th century.
May Day celebrated the end of winter and the coming
of Spring. Children danced around the May-pole, which
was often located on the town green. Young people also
walked or rode on horseback to nearby villages and
towns. In many ways May Day was a day of moving,
when people, mostly young adults, kept moving from
place to place. Both here and in England, where the
holiday was equally enjoyed, these events were part of
“Going A-Maying.”
Photograph with “Twineham School May 1st 1912”
handwritten on front. Probably shot with a Kodak box camera.
Ladies of all ages made colorful baskets by hand
and filled them with flowers. These were then given to
relatives and friends as gifts.
By 1900 May Day had become a holiday celebrated
mostly by schoolchildren, from elementary to college level,
in the schoolyard, in playgrounds, in
parks, or on town greens. A 12-foot,
or taller, May-pole, usually freshly
chopped down in the nearby woods
and decorated with fresh flowers,
leaves, and nosegays, was erected
and long ribbons fastened to it. The
girls braided the ribbons and then
sang and danced around the pole
while holding onto the ribbons.
Often during May Day festivities,
a young girl, usually a teenager, was
crowned Queen of the Maytide. A
floral ring was placed in her hair and
she became the spirit of spring. To
her the revelers paid homage.
Most juvenile magazines of the
early 20th century featured May
Day themes during the month.
Notable for doing this was “Youth’s
Companion,” which always turned
its monthly “Children’s Page” into a
MAY DAY POSTCARDS —
Postcards for May Day are not the holiday greetings
types we find for other holidays. They were not intended
for exchanging. Instead cards of this minor, now forgotten
holiday were mostly real photo types portraying May
Day ceremonies and celebrations, especially on college
campuses, where it was a popular tradition.
Notable for cards in this regard were Randolph-
Macon Women’s College, in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the
University of Illinois in Champaign.
Also, to be found are scenes of elementary school
May Day activities, which are also sought by local view
card collectors. Many of these pre-1920 postcards were
by major view card publishers. A. Kohler, for example,
Probably English, 1905 or 1906. printed a view of a celebration in New York City’s Central
Park; American News Co. did one of Prospect Park in
Brooklyn, N.Y., and the venerable Detroit Publishing Co.,
THE MAY QUEEN in 1905, issued one captioned “Maypole Dance, Central
By Alix Thorn Park, New York.” There were also cards of the holiday
A floating veil hid her yellow curls; being celebrated in England, though these are a bit hard
Her crown was paper flowers, to come by.
And the children sang as they marched along, Some notable series postcards were also published.
“See this lovely queen of ours!”
With her head held high while the drum beat loud
She trod on her royal way
Through the city streets to the distant park,
This stately Queen of May.
But When they reached the grassy slopes
Forgot was the pomp and pride;
The queen straightway hung up her veil,
And laid her crown aside,
While all her subjects ran and raced
Throughout the happy day.
With flying curls she let the throng,
This merry Queen of May.
Then when the western sun sand low,
And shadows nearer crept,
Her majesty straight donned her crown,
And slow and proudly stepped; “May Days,” pre-World War I allegorical, color postcard
And though the flags drooped wearily, (unknown publisher).
Though long the homeward way,
In spite of rips, in spite of rents,
She still was Queen of May. Important among these is a set of three or more by
“The May Queen” taken from “Strauch’s Student Life Series” about the University of
May 2, 1907 issue of “The Youth’s Companion” Illinois, in Champaign. Quite impressive, however, is a
lengthy set of at least 36 by J. Percy
Illustrated page from Clarke of the May Day events in
“The Youth’s Companion” a place called Llangollen. This
magazine’s May 1908 issue.→ might well be English or some
other nationality.
Some artistic color postcards,
incorporating artist illustrations,
were also published and sold. One
←Illustration from of these, No. 24 by an unidentified
the Children’s publisher and titled “May Days,”
Page (“The Youth’s shows three young women
Companion’s” dancing among the flowers and
May 2, 1913 bushes.
issue). As a holiday, the first day of May
is no longer of any consequence.
In Russia and in other Communist
countries from 1945 to 1990, May
Day was a patriotic holiday noted
for gigantic military parades and
massive displays of firepower.
With the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
forum for the holiday. Offered to its that is also past history.
youthful readers were illustrations, But now, in the 21st century, May Day is just a
poems and short vignettes about the footnote in the cultural history book. We do, thankfully,
holiday. In the May 2, 1913, issue, have many postcards to remind of a holiday that was once
for instance, the central illustration quite important and greatly enjoyed.
showed birds and dressed animals Collectors also seek out the many magazine illustrated
of the forest doing “The May-Pole articles of the occasion. notably among these are the late
Dance.” 1890s and early 1900s issues of “Youth’s Companion.”