 Mother's Day is coming up, which, as we all know, is just an excuse for candy makers and florists to get money out of us. We all know that it was just some holiday made up by Hallmark. Or was it? The first Mother's Day was held in West Virginia in 1908. Anna Jarvis was holding a memorial service for her mother, Ann Jarvis. In the late 1800s, after the American Civil War, there were a lot of meetings and events all around the country where mothers of men who had fought and died on opposing sides of the Civil War would come to meet. Ann Jarvis, Anna's mother, belonged to many of these groups and tried to establish Mother's Friendship Day, a time to reunite families that had been separated by the Civil War. In New York, one was ran by Julia Wade Howe, called Mother's Day for Peace. She's notable because in 1861 she was asked by President Lincoln to write the Battle Hymn of the Republic. You know it. The lyrics were written by Howe, but it is actually put to the tune of John Brown's body. This was actually a common practice before Mickey Mouse wrote our modern copyright laws. The National Anthem of the United States, the Star-Spangled Banner, is actually just a poem that was put to a popular drinking song at the time. The Anarchrynic Song. Anachryontic. Thanks, John. It was a theme to a gentleman's club in London based on the Greek poke, Anachryon. So after Ann Jarvis' death in 1905, Anna Jarvis made it her mission to make Mother's Day a reality, because as she said, your mother is the person that has done more for you than anyone in the world. In 1908, Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day a national holiday, saying what's next, National Mother-in-Laws Day? However, Anna kept up her crusade and by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday. In 1914, Will Drow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day beheld on the second Monday in May. Jarvis was actually oddly specific about the spelling of Mother's Day. She wanted to make sure that it was a singular possessive. She wanted it to be known that you were not celebrating all mothers, but every family was supposed to celebrate their specific mother. Some form of Mother's Day is now celebrated in over 140 countries. I know I counted them by hand. However, it wasn't a happy ending for Anna's dream. She quickly became disheartened in the commercialization of her holiday. By the 1920s, Hallmark had started printing Mother's Day cards, and the selling of candy and flowers had become commonplace. Anna actually began to actively boycott the holiday she had helped create. She protested the 1923 Philadelphia Candy Makers Convention and was even arrested for disturbing the peace in 1925 while protesting the selling of flowers. She felt everyone was exploiting and misinterpreting her holiday. She believed that gifts should come from the heart, not a store. So to honor Anna Jarvis' original vision for Mother's Day, I've decided to make this video for my mom. It's my mom. I love you, mom. I hope you enjoyed the video, and now you know why you're not getting a card. The first Mother's Day was held in Gaffton, Ted. The first Mother's Day was held in Gaffton... The first Mother's Day was held in Gaff... Grafton... Graft... Grafton, West Virginia. Oh, watch what I'm about to do. The first Mother's Day was held in West Virginia in 1908.