Here in the United States, nearly every month has some holiday, some federally recognized while some aren’t. Ever since I was a youth, I’ve had the feeling that some holidays had more weight to them than others. I’ll add the disclaimer that this article is based on personal opinion and observation; I don’t intend to belittle anyone for valuing a holiday that I particularly am indifferent to. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that there are some common criteria that thread them together, the two most important being federal recognition and minimal commercialization. Heavy commercialization tends to erode the true meaning of a holiday with time, as does heavy alcohol consumption that the day in question normalizes. First let’s start with the holidays that I feel aren’t worth celebrating.
Halloween is one such holiday that comes to mind, it isn’t federally recognized, and it is heavily commercialized. Halloween is so heavily commercialized the entire costume stores will pop up in previously uninhabited storefronts after Labor Day, only to disappear the first week of November. Many of these stores are so blatant that they have a strict no-returns policy. These stores are just as suspicious as the tax preparers who spring up right after the Super Bowl and disappear the third week of April. Halloween is mostly a cultural phenomenon that serves for cheap vendors to make a quick dollar. The Confectionary-Industrial Complex (and yes, it is an industrial complex) also loves Halloween for obvious reasons. The average American does not even particularly care for the historic roots of Halloween, which lends credibility towards pushing it to the not a real holiday column. Time to demote it to cultural phenomena status.
St. Patrick’s Day similarly is not federally recognized and is heavily commercialized. Lots of cheaply made green keepsakes are manufactured and sold for a holiday whose religious roots are not even seriously considered, let alone practiced here in the United States. The day mostly serves as a heavy drinking day, rife with cultural appropriation. The same holds true for Cinco de Mayo; it’s not even the actual Independence Day of Mexico. If it weren’t for the heavy alcohol consumption normalized by these two days (an ethically dubious practice that maybe shouldn’t be encouraged?), they would have much less of a cultural following than they currently do. Two more for the cultural phenomena pile.
Valentine’s Day is another non-federally recognized holiday that is massively commercialized. Several industries prop up the borrowed holiday by pouring untold billions of dollars into advertising; chocolate, diamond, expensive restaurants, and florists all love (haha, get it?) February 14th since it is a massive revenue generator for them. It also sends the unhealthy message of if you don’t spend a lot of money on your partner on this day, then you must not really love them. Valentine’s day displays in stores tend to go up immediately after New Year’s; these retailers aren’t dumb. On the plus side, February 15th is a great day to score deep discounts of unsold candy. So far that’s four for the downgrade status of cultural phenomena column.
Christmas is a tricky one; while it is federally recognized, it is also heavily commercialized to the point of most Americans do not seriously practice the religious part of the holiday. Everyone seems to bemoan the fact that Christmas music starts playing and decorations get mounted earlier and earlier each year. So, while Christmas does still have some weight to it in the form of re-connecting with the people who matter most to you; it does mean significantly less than what it once did. A real holiday it remains.
Next, we’ll focus on holidays that are federally recognized and are absolutely worth celebrating and paying homage to. The fact that nobody stands to make money off of these days is a strong indicator that these days remain close to their original meaning, which is a green flag. All of the following holidays, except for New Year’s Day, are uniquely American. Being a uniquely American holiday isn’t a hard requirement by any means, but many of the days that remain close to their intended meaning do tend to fall in that category.
Thanksgiving is both federally recognized and is minimally commercialized (unless you’re in the turkey farming business!). Thanksgiving is so minimally commercialized that retail stores will play Christmas music during the month of November, as if to bypass Thanksgiving altogether. Thanksgiving is a holiday that still revolves around meeting those who matter most to you and giving thanks (hence the name!) for the many positive things you have in life. While Macy’s still holds a parade and the NFL hosts games on this day, commercialization remains minimum; though, I could do without Black Friday (see my article called An Ode to Jeff Bezos).
Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth are both federally recognized and have minimum commercialization. These days are intended to serve a reminder to our nation’s dark history, and to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Nobody stands to make money off of these holidays; therefore, they remain close to their original meaning.
July 4th, Memorial Day, and Veteran’s Day are all real holidays. Unless you are in the meatpacking or fireworks business, nobody stands to make a quick dollar on these holidays either. My only complaint with Memorial Day is that Americans tend to equate it more with the start of summer and focus more on that, while focusing less on the freedoms given to us by those who sacrificed for them (stop saying Happy Memorial Day, it isn’t supposed to be happy).
New Year’s Day is an iffy one; while it is important to stop for a moment and to take inventory for a day and to plan what they would like to accomplish in the coming year, the day primarily seems to serve as a day to nurse a hangover from New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve is also known for peddling cheap plastic keepsakes that often do little more than occupy landfills a few days later. So, while I’ll consider New Year’s Day a holiday, New Year’s Eve is leaning more towards the not a real holiday column.
Finally, we’ll end with some days that aren’t holidays at all, but I feel really ought to be. First, the Super Bowl is a day that while being heavily commercialized and normalizing binge drinking, does at its core have an actual purpose to it. Regardless of whether your favorite team is playing-or for a lot of Americans, if you even like football or not-most of the nation watches the game. Take the game away from that day, and there is no commercialization, no fanfare, and nothing worth observing (meanwhile, Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day have long been stripped of their core meanings and still persist). The NFL is king in the United States, and crowning its champion is a cultural event that is not one to be missed; a global pandemic that killed millions still didn’t stop us from playing.
Election Day ought to be a federally recognized holiday. While we have laws in place preventing an employer from blocking you from voting, in practice it is still impractical for people to show up to vote. Removing barriers to voting would increase voter turnout, and several other developed nations around the world already either hold their elections on a weekend or declare the day a federal holiday. This is mostly just about adopting a widely accepted practice. How can a government claim to be representative of its population if 40% of the eligible population can’t make it to the polls?
What is-and isn’t-a holiday worth celebrating is highly dependent on who you ask, though I hope everyone reading is able to follow my reasoning here. Make sure to get angry and tell me in the comments section how wrong or ignorant I am anyways!
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