MOTHERS' DAY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20214, 17 April 1931, Page 13

MOTHERS' DAY.

' 10 IH». WITOB W.TH* >BBBS V f Sir;—l 3hiPhs t Mr -a; • 8. Wilson's: " leHer. "ft reply;from me, if yonwillf kindly; < give-me ; spaced Vw'w f ?emwi:yibyl , > I i s ' ■+

; 1 ; t< 'i — 1 —~ pur. date, should be, set .-'aside ,by ; otir, movement in favour of any other date, American or. otherwise.' In,giving .your readers the -report- from-the ''Daily Mail," London, I showed the'danger of 'the reaj mother ideal of her special dav being converted into 'plirely commercial propaganda.. When I' was. in -England, in 1925 And. 1926; the whole, sale confectioners ,of England joined issue with Miss Penswick-Smith by "at--tempting to oust the fourth Sunday in Lent in-favour of the American-date-in May. I saw every qopyl-of the • many monthly trade journals 'of- the' confectioners. - Their reason/' Moly .published month by month,''was that the fourth Sunday .in Lent' too,.close to Easter, and of no commercial -use < t<i the trade for special candy, etc., such as were prepared -by the confeo-, tfoners in U.S.A./ and so> the trade i was urged to put forwards a scheme to oust Mothering Sunday movement-to further tbe'finances ofithe confectioners. l was one" of Miss .Penswick-Smjth's -.assistants, in bringing before the confectioners' and -the Church the disaster of losing the „real meaning 'of the .festival in f lieu of- creating custom for candy. Though the wholesale confectioners between them openly advertised -the offer", of spending no less than £250,000- in advertising the American date, by dint of very hard work we won our case and Great Britain retains her day. Referring 'to '=■ Mr Wilson's remarks that if Christmas,. Good Friday, and Blaster were not so largely observed, business houses would" not in .the same way call "attention to these sacred seasons by their wares.' • Mr Wilson will note from my statement above that the "only -objective of the -American date is to' commercialise it than .set-it- aside as a sacred and-personal-, family day. Mr Wilson is "not correct in the assumption that "no one iat present observes any, similar .<sommitr ments," for, ,in England the emblem, of the dav 1 is, the' violet. In the big city of.'Nottingham , alone, - thousands • of* bunches of violets' are sold the preceding" Saturday, and. apart from "daughters., making" their mothers Simnel cakes, every pastrycook in Nottingham and fts environs (I only ham) sell; Simnel cakes "in. huge quan-. titles, the nearness of Good Friday leaking .no, difference to th^m.; — eto>, •• , , - - * ; „ ' ■ ' " (MRS) 'A.:;D. HOtJSTON. 1 '' April letk, 1 -1931 v *