Knights of Labor =.)

       Love this picture of Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe), working in an airplane factory. This is where she was discovered by the Blue Book Modeling Agency.

I live in the United States, so I was a little surprised that Labor Day is commonly known as "May Day," because other countries celebrate Labor Day on May 1st. (Oh, so that is where that phrase comes from! LOL @ my failing to pay attention because in my usual line of work, I'd be working today!!)

The roots of Labor Day stretch back to the 1810’s and what was known as the Eight Hour Day movement. This was meant to decrease the hours that labor workers had to work!

Even the Bible says:

"Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest!"

Although most of the world celebrates Labor Day on May 1st, the United States celebrates it on the first Monday of September. Why? Well, the Knights of Labor (a labor union) was founded in secrecy in December 1869, by a group of Philadelphia tailors. They were originally called "The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor." (Love that name!) The order was designed to protect all people who worked for a living! (Isn't that great?!? It is so crusade, so Winivere!)

Anyway, what happened was that The Knights of Labor organized a parade on September 5, 1882, in New York City. In 1884, they organized a second parade and then it became an annual parade after that. What happened to 1883?!! 

The International Workingmen's Association, many of whom were socialists or anarchists, wanted our Labor Day to fall on May 1, just like the rest of the world, but President Grover Cleveland that changing the date to May 1 might show favor for the Chicago Haymarket riots which occured in May 1886, so they decided to leave the date as the first Monday of September. 

Hooray for Knighthood and the fight for the little people!! Now, if they could only increase our wages!!! It is sad when the average worker has to work an hour to get one gallon of gas to go to work.  =.)

                   

I love these pictures of labor workers from the past. I can especially relate to the picture of the people working in the cotton fields, because that was me!

 

    I love this picture because it shows the long sacks that we had to fill. Most of the other pictures taken of cotton pickers are usually from the front.

    This is a rare picture also. It is of workers waiting to weigh in their sacks. I loved this part best, because that meant that I could calculate how much money I would get. Yes, at that time, you were paid by the piece, or in this case, by how many pounds of cotton were in your sack, so you never knew how much cotton you could pick in a day. It wasn't just a matter of picking it. It was also about how strong your body was to drag that sack through one row of cotton after another as you bent over to pick that cotton with your hands and put it in your sack. Nowadays, people get paid by the hour, whether they are actually working or if they are taking a break to chat with their coworkers.

It made me sad when people lost their jobs to cotton picking machines, because most people did not have any other skills. Picking cotton was hard labor and it paidvery little, but it taught me what hard work and discipline really is.

I look around at all these people who complain about being in the air condition, slaving over a cash register or over a desk, and I have to laugh. Give them a week at working in the cotton fields in the hot sun, and they will learn to appreciate their jobs.

When I worked my usual 24hour/7days a week jobs, I used to complain, too, but it was because we didn't get the priviledge of getting holidays off.  I had to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Labor Day~ most all the holidays. In my line of work, someone always has to be available 24 hours a day. People in regular jobs just don't realize how good they have it.

May the Lord bless all the people who work for a living. May you enjoy the fruits of your labor and may you find rest on this special day.

May the Lord bless all the people who have to work for a living but are without work today (including myself!). May the doors of prosperity open and overflow so that the fruits of your labor can extend to help someone less fortunate than yourself.