A Labor Day Weekend Tribute through rare newspapers…

August 31, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

What was originally intended as a means for honoring the hard-working common laborers who helped build the United States into a prosperous nation (please, no “You didn’t build that!” comments), is now more closely associated with the end of summer.  Families and friends join together in one final effort to squeeze the last drop of relaxation from their laborious efforts exerted through the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons.  Perhaps in the end this transition is well-suited to the intentions of the original proponents of the holiday… and much more has been gained than lost.

With appreciation for both the original and morphed sentiments of the holiday, the following links are intended to take you on a small trip back through the 19th and early 20th centuries, to view Labor Day through the eyes of those who have toiled before us.  Please enjoy…

Labor Day as seen through:

Harper’s Weekly Labor Day issue of 1913

Labor Day themed issues

Scientific American

And a number of categories available via the History’s Newsstand eBay Store:

Thanks again to all those who have given so much to help make the world a better place.  🙂