May Day Memories

Today over sixty five years ago I can remember my mother making me a new outfit for the school May Pole Dance. I was very young. My parents were poor, but I never knew it. My new outfit was made out of flour sacks. Gold Medal flour sacks to be exact. I was a chubby little girl so my mother made a "dress". The top of it was sleeveless and said Gold Medal in great big letters. The skirt was blue with pink clovers and little white flowers. The skirt was sewn to the top. Then she made a jacket which matched the skirt. It had buttons and long sleeves. Unless I unbuttoned it, which I would never do, a person would think that I was wearing a "store bought" outfit. It was very pretty.

I can and always will remember that outfit because that was the day that my mother taught me to be a lady and to sit like one in the car. You see flour sacks when washed were very limp. Mother had to starch the material with Linit Starch and iron it. I had to put it on carefully so that it didn't wrinkle. Sitting in the car was a trick. I was taught to gather my skirt carefully and smoothly so it too, did not wrinkle. When I arrived at school that evening I was a success. I was not wrinkled.

My mother made me lots of clothes from feed sacks also. They essentially were made from the same type of coarse material, but they made very nice clothes.
I looked at the calendar today and was a little surprised that it was May 1, 2019. That little girl that danced around the May Pole would never have imagined that date. And I'm here to tell you that she had a vivid imagination. Some folks say that she still does.
The reason I titled this post A Bruised and Battered Holiday is because in my mind it is. I Googled May Day. Oh my goodness. It has been celebrated and condemned and banned and celebrated again since forever. Not just in the United States, but in many many countries.
I saw that it was first celebrated by seeing some of the myths and the early years  A.D. I saw that it was a Communist and Pagan Holiday. I read that music and spring and new beginnings were the reason that it was and sometimes is recognized as a day or a space of time to celebrate with music and food and fun.
Be that as it may I can remember having fun with my children when they were young. We made May Baskets. They were made of construction paper and cupcake papers. Oh so full of popcorn and a little bit of candy. I taught them how to sneak over to the neighbor's houses and hang the little baskets of goodies on their door handles and run really fast back home. Such fun we had.
In later years I stayed home with my children and cared for children in my home. We had crafts then too. Yes, we made May Baskets. Again, another fun activity. I didn't give paganism or communism or any other problems/obstacles a thought, because what we did was celebrate Spring and have fun with our neighbors.
I didn't make any May Baskets this year. But I still have the fun memories. That's what we do as parents, teachers, and grandparents. Just think how long ago that little girl danced around a May Pole. Now that's a memory!