Labor Day is celebrated every year on the first Monday of September. In 2015, Labor Day falls on Monday, September 7. The federal holiday is observed throughout the United States and in the territories. As the U.S. Labor Department explains, it was originally dedicated to the economic and social accomplishments of all American workers, and to their contributions and efforts towards strengthening the economic prosperity of the country and its wellbeing.

Interesting Facts About the History of Labor Day

The first government recognition of Labor Day came from municipal ordinances that were passed in 1885 and 1886. Once the first municipal ordinances were signed into law, a movement that aimed to get every state to enact Labor Day observances into law evolved.

New York was the first state to introduce a bill regarding Labor Day, but Oregon became the first state to pass legislation declaring that the first Monday of September would be observed as Labor Day. The Oregon legislation passed on February 21, 1887. Throughout 1887, the legislatures of four other states enacted laws creating an official Labor Day holiday. By the end of 1889, Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had also enacted laws creating their own Labor Day holiday.

On June 28, 1894, the United States Congress passed legislation enacting a law that affected the District of Columbia and the outlying U.S. territories. That law established that the first Monday of every September would be observed as Labor Day. Before that law went into effect, however, 23 states had already passed their own laws establishing the holiday.

Cooling Citrus

Sometime that year, although the exact date isn’t clear, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States signed a bill into law that made the first Monday of September, a national holiday. The passage of that law fell on the heels of the then president’s failed attempt to end the railroad workers strike.

Labor Day is also about the celebration of the end of summer – even if you live in a place like Miami where the fantastic weather never ends. It is about celebrating the last weekend before kids return to school, and enjoying special family time.

We think that flowers should be a part of any gathering. Our Cooling Citrus arrangement combines yellow and orange roses with white hydrangea. We neatly arrange the flowers in a cube glass vase, the perfect centerpiece for a Labor Day meal table.

Let Trias help you create your own perfect Labor Day flower arrangements.