Happy Labor Day Vallejo! Today, most of us take this holiday for granted. But there was a time when Labor Day held far more meaning for American workers. The official Labor Day national holiday was enacted in the early 1890s. Labor Day, according to the original proclamation was set aside “for the purpose of affording all laboring classes one day of rest and recreation.” Imagine, when Labor Day was originally enacted the eight hour work day was little more than a dream for most American workers. In the 1890s and early 1900s, Vallejo residents celebrated Labor Day in a variety of ways, including regatta races sponsored by the Vallejo Yacht Club. It was 1909 when Vallejo had one of its largest Labor Day celebrations. On September 5 of that year, union workers from Napa and Contra Costa counties converged on our city to take part in one the “first celebration of Labor Day ever held in Vallejo.” The event - “1,000 men strong” - was marked by speakers, bands, decorated floats and flying banners. The parade wound its way throughout the principle streets of Vallejo, ending later that afternoon with a picnic at Flosden Park “on the trolley road three miles north of this city.” Other events included a baseball game, races, dancing and other events that “outclassed all other labor day celebrations held throughout the Bay Area.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 16:04:15 +0000
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