MOTHERS' DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 3

MOTHERS' DAY.

WIDE INSTITUTION.

SHOPS DISPLAY GIFTS

MEETING AT TOWN HALL,

With every year the significance of Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May, becomes more deeply realised and its observance more widely honoured. Mother's Day falls this year 011 Sunday next, and already stores in the city are suggesting and displayinig gifts suitable to the occasion, and preparations are being made for special services.

The setting aside of this second Sunday in May as a day when appreciation is shown by acts or gifts of the services given and the sacrifices made by the mothers of the world, is an American institution. Since its official recognition in 1014 it has come to be observed 'throughout almost the whole of the English-speaking world. Mother s Day at one time reminds men, women and children of what their mothers have done for them and mean to them, and gives them an opportunity and an occasion of showing mother that they have not forgotten their debt. _ White flowers are worn, presents are given as tangible tokens, and in some c)untries special services are held. In many homes the tribute is paid by freeing 'mother of her household duties for the little while and giving her a whole day of rest'.

Business houses have come to realise that a definite and growing need is to be filled in connection with Mothers Day. Special gifts are produced and displayed, ranging from modest, appropriately worded greeting cards to articles of practical value. Gloves aie a favoured choice, for they arc seasonable as well as useful. Umbrellas, powder and scent are also popular expressions of thoughts of appreciation. Dear to mother's heart, too, are such tilings as warm slippers, handkerchiefs and'" hose. One of the objects of Mother's Day is to try to make her daily tasks lighter, and so labour-savin" devices that will help to cut down the drudgery of her housework are in good demand. Town Hall Rally.

On Sunday afternoon the Young Men s Christian Association will co-operate with the Ngaruawahia Convention Committee in holding a big rally at the Town Hall. Similar meetings have always been very well attended, and in 1934' the then Governor-General, Lord. Bledisloe, was present. Sunday s speaker will be Mr. Edwin Orr, ot Ireland, a much-travelled man who was the main speaker at the recent Xgaruawahia convention. The meeting will take the form of a special devotional service, and the white flower emblem will again be in evidence.

Ministers of Nonconformist Churches in Auckland have intimated to the general secretary of the Y.M.C.A., Mr. V. T. Drew, that they will make special reference to Mother's Day in their services on Sunday. Anglican churches, however, observed during Lent an Old English custom called "Mothering Sunday," somewhat similar in meaning.