During this first week of May, thousands of Americans, many of whom are Texan, celebrated “Cinco de Mayo,” a holiday in honor of a defeat by the Mexican army of French invaders who outnumbered them two-to-one. The battle, occurring near Puebla, Mexico, on May 5, 1862, boosted Mexican morale regarding the threat of a Napoleonic takeover of their country. However, in the following year, French forces reached Mexico City and Maximilian I was proclaimed Emperor of the land once conquered by Spain. In 1867, Maximilian was overthrown, and France failed to re-establish its empire in the New World. Although the Battle of Puebla was celebrated in the years following this victory against France, it never became a national holiday in Mexico.
However, the celebration of Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural one for Mexicans living outside the country, particularly in the United States, where it has also been popularized among gringos residing in the southwest. Some believe the major backers of this celebration are associated with beer, wine and tequila manufacturers. Indeed, it would appear that the “Fifth of May” is not a holiday so much as it is a drinking event. Statistics indicate more alcohol is consumed for Cinco de Mayo than for either Super Bowl Sunday or St Patrick’s Day, two other “holidays that aren’t.”
I had never heard of Cinco de Mayo when we lived in Ohio, New York or New England. On the other hand, Paul Revere Day was celebrated as a school holiday in Massachusetts every April 18, to the great pleasure of our son, Kenneth, whose birthday was on the same day.
When I was growing up, my favorite quasi-holiday celebration occurred on October 12. Back then, it was known as Columbus Day. Northeastern cities with high populations of Italian immigrants held their own parades and drinking parties. My hometown was too small for parades; I don’t remember a band marching through Niles for any event. I had to go to Youngstown if I wanted to see one; but I never did.
Although October 12, for many years, was recognized throughout the country as a national holiday, it has, in modern times, become non-existent as a celebration of the “discovery” of America by an Italian admiral employed by Spanish monarchs. Given the destruction of native cultures under Spanish rule, exemplified by Christopher Columbus, some modernists have attempted, with limited success, to rename the October 12 holiday as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” The failure of this name transfer may be a result of the difficulty of using it as an enticement for week-long sales associated with a buying spree held between Labor Day and Halloween.
While Italian-Americans may have lost Columbus Day as their drinking holiday, Irish-Americans continue to have strong control of St Patrick’s Day for their own beer parties. Perhaps, adding green things to whatever you wear, and believing in Leprechauns with pots of gold, make for greater fun than merely eating more pizza, which can be done any time of the year. Some older Italian-Americans have attempted to counter St Patrick’s Day on March 17 with St Joseph’s Day on March 19, but they have had only limited success with their altar tables set with cultural foods. The real masters for a similar performance remain with Mexican-Americans who have re-established their “Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead” celebrations on November First or Second. No doubt, candy-skulls and related macabre edibles are more desirable than a variety of Lenten fare.
In recent years, further efforts have been made by cultural groups to introduce and promote other, new holidays. One of the more recent results has been the establishment of “Juneteenth National Independence Day.” This holiday, established by federal law in 2021, celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, declaring the freedom of slaves in the Confederate states, effective January 1, 1863. However, news of this event was not delivered to Texas until June 19, 1865, following the end of the Civil War. This announcement in Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation marks the date for the current national holiday on June 19.
Juneteenth is the most recent national holiday established by Congress. In 1986, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, celebrated on the Third Monday of January, is another recent holiday, one authorized by the Federal government to mark the birth of MLK.
Other successful commercial holidays include Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, both with equally confusing punctuation. Although the concept of a special day for mothers goes back to the Civil War period and the later Suffragette movement of the Nineteenth Century, the Federal authorization for Mothers’ Day occurred in 1914 under President Wilson. The event not only honored mothers: it also rapidly became an economic stimulus for both the candy and floral industries.
The corresponding national holiday for fathers had to wait until 1972 when President Nixon signed the bill for its official inauguration. However, gift giving for men evidently is less lucrative than it is for women; the Third Sunday in June has not had the same economic benefits as the Second Sunday in May, especially for the restaurant business. A third commercial holiday, the one for Grandparents, become an official national holiday when President Carter signed its proclamation, in 1978, declaring this special designation for elderly mothers and fathers to be the First Sunday after Labor Day. Although Mother’s Day was part of my own childhood, I had no part in any day honoring either fathers or grandparents. I have also been confused as to whether I should limit my wishes for my own sons on these particular Sundays and allow the gift-giving to be up to my grandchildren.
I usually end up sending electronic greetings on all of these uncertain holidays. In fact, the easy ability of sending electronic cards and the increasing cost of postage for hard-copy ones, has resulted in using only the Internet for wishing friends and relatives the best on all of those holidays that aren’t, as well as for many that really are.