Women’s Suffrage: A Long Time Coming Just A Short While Ago

With our Independence Day celebrations this year, our country turned 239 years old. Yet next month will mark only the 95^th anniversary of women getting suffrage-the right to vote.  Female citizens had to wait 144 years before securing the right to vote, it was a long fought effort and extremely overdue.

On August 18, 1920, the 19^th Amendment became federal law. The 19^th Amendment reads: “The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Incredibly, these very words were proposed once a year for 41 years before the amendment was passed by the U.S. Congress on June 4, 1919. The two-thirds majority of states needed to ratify the amendment was met 14 months later by Tennessee in 1920.

The historical vote cleared the Tennessee House by one vote. Records verify that the deciding vote was cast by Harry Burns, 24. The junior representative carried a letter from his mother urging him, “Don’t forget to be a good boy. Vote for suffrage.”

Anthony, Cady Stanton, and Stone

The Women’s Suffrage movement has a recorded beginning in 1848 when the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention, passed a resolution in favor of women’s right to vote. Two national suffrage organizations were established in 1869. The competing organizations were formed, one led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the other led by Lucy Stone.

After years of bitter rivalry they merged in 1890 as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) with Anthony as its leading force. That was an important year for NAWSA when the Territory of Wyoming was granted statehood. As the 44th U.S. state, Wyoming immediately granted women the right to vote. Within ten years the NAWSA influenced three other states to grant suffrage to women--Utah, Colorado and Idaho. No other states joined in the big move to give women voting equality until the Federal Government made it a law.

NAWSA struggled for 30 years to promote women’s right to vote. The Suffragettes, which they called themselves, staged parades, rallies and events that often got them arrested. The group leaders encouraged civil disobedience, and local laws regarding assembling unauthorized groups often were ignored.

The leaders of NAWSA knew that they had to convince people in small towns to join the cause of women’s rights. Getting both men and women committed at the grass roots level of society was the core of their strategy. Many people considered the idea of women’s suffrage a radical change of the U.S. Constitution.

The movement lasted so long from its early start in the mid-1800’s that few of the early supporters lived to see the final victory. Mothers passed the spirit of suffrage to their daughters and granddaughters. When women’s freedom to vote finally happened in 1920 it enfranchised all American women by declaring they, like men, deserved the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. 

Thanks for reading this blog. Come back to this space later this month for information about how France shipped its gift of The Statue of Liberty to New York. You can also visit my website at www.joevlatino.com for a sample of my short stories.

Teenage Girl, Like Paul Revere, Rode to Warn About British Invasion

Sybil Ludington was the oldest child of Colonel Henry Ludington, a commander of colonial militia men in rural New York State during the American Revolution. On the evening of April 26, 1777, the sixteen-year-old girl rode into a pitch dark night to warn citizens of surrounding towns that British soldiers were attacking a nearby city. Her trek was just days after the second anniversary of Paul Revere’s famous ride to warn his community of the beginning of war with England. 

In April, 1777, the war against England was two years old. The battles consisted of scattered skirmishes between well-equipped British troops and the often poorly-supplied Colonial Army. Militia troops were volunteers outside the ranks of the U.S. Army.

Known as citizen soldiers, the men consisted of farmers and merchants who were ready to fight against British invasions. Militia volunteers risked being charged with treason and given a death sentence if they were captured. They were poorly equipped and usually carried black powder muskets passed down from fathers and grandfathers. 

Colonel Ludington, Sybil’s father, was a New York militia officer and leader of a local group called The Committee of Safety. He operated a farm with his family of 13 children in Paterson, NY. Volunteers made up the group of 400 civilian fighters who stayed ready to defend against an invasion from England and domination by King James III.

On April 25, 1777, British General William Tryon landed a raiding party on the shore of Fairfield, Connecticut, and marched to the city of Danbury the next day. Danbury was a major supply center of the Continental Army in the Hudson River Valley. Supplies included thousands of barrels of salt pork, flour, molasses, rice and rum. Non-perishable items included cots, tents and shoes. These items were supplies the Colonial Army needed for the war.

The Brits marched into Danbury and drove off members of a small garrison of colonists stationed there to guard the supplies. Dressed in their red uniforms and armed with long-barreled muskets, they looked fearless to the local community. British soldiers started destroying the warehoused goods. The invaders found dozens of barrels of rum that the soldiers broke open. They quickly became drunk and went wild throughout the city. General Tryon was unable to control the drunk soldiers who vandalized Danbury and set fires throughout the town.

Several colonial riders spread out across the area late that afternoon to alert the local militias that Danbury was under attack. One of those riders went to the Ludington farm that was about 25 miles from Danbury. The rider arrived at the household’s front door after dark to inform Ludington about the attack. The messenger and his horse were exhausted from the hard ride, and they were unable to continue contacting the local residents.

Colonel Ludington needed to get word to the local militia fighters who were scattered among several rural towns. It was his duty to get things organized so his 400 patriots could attack the invading British soldiers. That meant that he must stay at the farm to establish a headquarters for the impending fight. Someone had to ride to the local communities and tell them that Danbury was under siege.

Sybil told her father she would ride to the local towns to spread the word. The colonel knew his daughter would be riding through dangerous territory at night. After only a brief consideration, he agreed to let Sybil make the ride. He convinced his wife that their daughter was the only choice they had to prevent a surprise attack against the local citizens.

Armed with one of her father’s muskets, Sybil mounted Star, her favorite horse, and started her mission. The young girl was an expert rider, and she and Star knew the surrounding area. She left the farm at about 9 p.m. and carried a long stick to use as a knocker to bang on the doors of the residents. That way she could stay on her horse and get the attention of the residents by yelling the news about the impending invasion.

At least one encounter on the trail nearly ended her quest when a would-be thief demanded money from her. Sibyl pointed the musket at him and yelled that she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. The man ran off. Outlaws were only one possible threat to the young girl. Deserters from both sides and loyalists to the British Crown sought safety and victims in the woods.

Her ride included wooded areas with primitive trails. There was no artificial lighting; so the teenager traveled in darkness all the way with only moonlight to help her see. She could see the orange glow from the fires in Danbury as it burned. How she made the trek without getting lost is astonishing.

Sybil rode all night and arrived back home near dawn. She rode 40 miles to alert residents of the towns of Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs, Stormville and Peckville. That was twice the distance Paul Revere rode.

Colonel Ludington’s patriots rallied at his farm the morning of April 27, 1777, within hours after Sybil spread the warning. More militia groups joined them, and they drove the British soldiers back towards the coast. They used a hodgepodge of weapons, most of which were antique muskets handed down from father to son. It was considered a military victory for the militia fighters, but they were too late to save Danbury before most of the city burned.

Following her historic ride, Sybil remained at her parents’ farm to help raise her brothers and sisters until she married at 23. Her husband was Edmund Ogden, a Revolutionary War soldier. They worked his family farm and also ran a Catskill, NY, inn. After her husband died, Sybil continued to run the inn for several years. She died at 78 in Unadilla, NY, where she lived with her only child, Henry.

A statue depicting the teenage heroine stands in a park inside her home town of Paterson. Her descendants hold an annual celebration at the statue to honor their brave ancestor and her amazing ride. The statue raised a point of conjecture for several years. Sybil is depicted riding sidesaddle, which was considered the gentile way for women to ride. However, the girl’s hard, 40 mile ride could hardly be accomplished staying on her horse sidesaddle as she held a musket and stick, some historians say. Being accustomed to hard work on her father’s farm, the teenage heroine most likely used one of her work dresses and straddled the horse.

Thanks for reading this blog. Look in this space in a few weeks for another interesting subject. Read my web site at www.joevlatino.com. That’s where you can get information about my book of short stories, “The Device.”

First Teddy Bear was Cuddly, Lovable, Soft and Delicious

Theodore Roosevelt was the country’s 26th president from 1901 to 1909. He was a man of action who had careers as a soldier, big game hunter, politician, conservationist and human rights proponent. His nickname “Teddy” led to an iconic stuffed animal being named after him.

An avid outdoors lover, Teddy Roosevelt was pleased to accept a hunting trip invitation from the governor of Mississippi in November, 1902. The governor promised Roosevelt a chance to bag a black bear, and the president wanted to add one to his trophy collection.  

After three days of hunting, a few bears were shot by members of the party, but Roosevelt didn’t see even one. Desperate to please the president, the governor dispatched several of the guides into the forest the next day and told them to find a bear for Roosevelt.

After a few hours, the president followed the hunting guides into a thick part of the forest and saw a bear tied to a tree. It was an adolescent female bear that looked badly beaten and scared. Hunting dogs found the bear, surrounded it and attacked it. The guides beat the bear into submission and secured it to the tree.

The president, invited by one of the guides to kill the animal, had pity on the bear and refused to shoot it, saying that would be unsportsmanlike.  He ordered that the bear should be “put out of its misery.” The guides quickly gutted the bear and butchered it for the hunters to eat.

Roosevelt, the governor and members of the camp ate the young bear during the next few days of the hunt. They saved the bear’s paws to eat roasted as a delicacy on the last day.

Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman learned about the story. He drew a cartoon for “The Washington Post” that showed Roosevelt refusing to shoot the pathetic-looking animal.

The president was shown in the forefront of the sketch extending his left arm in a gesture of firm resolve to stop anyone from harming the bear. The cartoon ran immediately after the hunting incident on November 16, 1902, with the caption “Drawing the line in Mississippi.”

Roosevelt was still on the hunt when the cartoon hit the newspaper. He likely was picking the bear meat out of his teeth while readers read about his humane gesture to save the bear’s life.

Similar cartoons ran in other newspapers. The bear often was drawn to be a cub that had a frightened look with large, human-like eyes. Sympathy for the bear increased as did Roosevelt’s popularity. The fact that the president ate the bear he spared was not publicized.    

A Brooklyn, NY, candy store owner saw an opportunity in the popularity of the bear story. Morris Michtom and his wife sold stuffed animals as well as candy. Mrs. Michtom made the toys by hand. They put two stuffed bears into the store windows and called them “Teddy’s Bear.”

The two bears were sold immediately and demand for more of them grew so much that Michtom started to mass produce them. He requested permission to use the president’s name on the product. President Roosevelt thought the idea was a joke and willingly gave his approval personally to the toy maker. Michtom’s new toy business eventually became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

A German company called Steiff specialized in making stuffed animals for children. The company soon joined the increasing demand for Roosevelt’s bear.  Margaret Steiff made her living by sewing stuffed elephants and later other animals including bears.  Seeing the potential in the American market, the Steiff Company exported their stuffed bears to the United States under the name Teddy Bear. The name stuck, and Steiff became a globally known company among stuffed animal collectors.

President Roosevelt laughed at the idea of the stuffed bear being named after him, but the toy bear’s popularity kept growing. The impact of the Teddy Bear can be seen in the number of the toys sold each year. That estimated number is somewhere in the millions. Some 2,000 specialty stores sell the toy bears in the U.S. alone. European sales probably double the number of bears sold.

“Teddy Bear and Friends” is a national magazine for stuffed bear collectors. One article appearing inside the magazine was about a woman who built a wing on her home to hold her collection of more than 2,000 teddy bears. About 24 percent of the magazine’s 40,000 readers spend at least $1,000.00 on teddy bears every year.

Internet sales of teddy bears for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day keep growing each year. Buyers can find 20,000 teddy bears for auction on eBay every day.

The Teddy Bear became a tribute to one of our most accomplished presidents even though Roosevelt laughed at the idea of the toy using his name. The 26th president had world-wide accomplishments before and after his time in office. Roosevelt was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, being recognized in 1906 for his role as negotiator in the Russo-Japanese War.  Theodore Roosevelt also established the National Parks System.

He was the youngest man to become president. Roosevelt, then vice president, was 42-years-old when he assumed the presidency after President McKinley was assassinated. John F. Kennedy was 43-years-old when he was elected president.

After leaving office, Roosevelt went on an African safari for two years and netted many of the specimens that stock the Smithsonian Institute. 

The man whose likeness is a 60 foot bust carved into Mt. Rushmore was accomplished as a combat leader in the Rough Riders before he became president. It’s ironic a man of such diverse talents and some grizzly experiences would be known world-wide as the inspiration for a child’s toy.

Thanks for reading this blog. A new one will be in this space in two weeks. Please read my website www.joevlatino.com. You can get information about my book of short stories “The Device.”

Coca-Cola Changed the Taste: Marketing Debacle or Smart Advertising?

At the end of World War II, Coca-Cola turned 59 years old and held an incredible 60% share of the soft drink market. Competition from other soft drinks slowly cut away at the company’s dominant position until Coke sales held 24% of the market in 1985. That was the year the Coca-Cola Company initiated a product change that business experts argued whether it was a total blunder or a brilliant marketing move.  

Pepsi-Cola joined the soft drink market in 1888, two years after Coca-Cola, and remains Coca-Cola’s main competitor. The two soft drink giants jockeyed back and forth in gaining dominance in sales. That competition became known as the Cola Wars.  

In April 1985, Coke introduced a drink with a different taste called New Coke. It was more like the flavor of Diet Coke, except that it contained sugars. The sugars used in New Coke came from corn and were less expensive than the sweeteners from beets and sugar cane that were in the original formula.

Coke conducted taste tests in several U.S. states for more than three years before New Coke sales started. The new product dominated all the tests with the public preferring New Coke over Pepsi-Cola and original Coca-Cola’s flavor. New Coke, like Diet Coke and Pepsi, was less carbonated and sweeter tasting than original Coca-Cola.

New Coke was a failure in spite of the dominant preference it held in taste tests. Marketing experts debated the reason for the failure for many years.  

Coca-Cola executives started an advertising blitz to introduce the new taste of Coca-Cola on April 23, 1985. The plan was to eliminate the original formula. That’s when a public backlash started. Coke executives promoted their new product as Coca-Cola’s replacement. Soda pop drinkers who liked New Coke in taste tests initially assumed that the new product would become an additional product alongside original Coke. Dropping original Coke impacted sales in a negative way.

National TV news reports showed people filling shopping carts with Cola-Cola to stockpile the product after the company announced they would eliminate the original drink. The Coke Company received hundreds of thousands of letters protesting the company’s move to stop sales of the original product. The public’s response showed the company that consumers of Coca-Cola wanted the original drink in spite of the overwhelming taste test results favoring New Coke.

Famous television and movie celebrity Bill Cosby was Coke’sspokesman for the new drink. He was in commercials across television stations in 1985 with his telling the public that Coke “just got better,” and New Coke “just slides down your throat.” 

Cosby resigned his role as spokesman later that year when Coke announced that the original drink would come back after only three months. It was renamed Coca-Cola Classic and sold side-by-side with New Coke. The actor said his statements about New Coke being better than the original ruined his credibility.

In 1986, the Coke Company introduced a new spokesman named MaxHeadroom. Supposedly a computer generated character; Headroom was a male actor in heavy makeup. The television commercials had static to emphasize the electronic quality of the character. Headroom spoke with a stutter and stammered as if he was the result of computer glitzes. 

The use of Headroom helped keep New Coke on the market, although fragmenting the market with two cola products wasn’t what the company wanted. “The Best Just Got Better” slogan was scrapped because it conflicted with the sales of two different colas.  Renamed Coke II in 1992, New Coke struggled with sales until it was eliminated completely in 2002.

The word Classic was eliminated from North American packaging by 2009. Classic still remains on the label in many international markets. After all the turmoil in 1985, the Coca-Cola Company immediately bounced back in sales and dominated in the Cola Wars.

Roberto Goizueta, then chairman of Coke, received the dubious credit of initiating the change to New Coke. With years of taste tests showing that the public liked the taste of New Coke better than the original, he pushed the company into changing the formula 30 years ago. He was a chemist by trade and didn’t have the marketing background needed to anticipate the consumer’s objection to the change.

The chairman and other Coca-Cola executives shared the label of getting the biggest dose of dumb luck found in soft drink sales. As soon as Coca-Cola Classic hit the market three months after New Coke appeared, the company’s sales zoomed up and still dominate in product share greater than any other soft drink company.

Consumers showed appreciation in getting their Coke back by setting record sales. The top executives must have shook their heads in amazement at the sale increases and probably said in unison, “What just happened?” Nobody in the company lost his or her job because of the New Coke fiasco.

Goizueta spoke at an employee event honoring the 10-year anniversary of New Coke in 1995. His words show a skilled use of double-speak and rationalization:

“We set out to change the dynamics of sugar colas in the United States, and we did exactly that, albeit not in the way we had planned. But the most significant result of New Coke by far,” the chairman said, “was that it sent an incredibly powerful signal—a signal that we really were ready to do whatever was necessary to build value for the owners of our business.”

To say that the top executives of Coke were lucky to get through the controversy and still have their jobs is a huge understatement.

Little was mentioned to the consumers of Coca-Cola about another change made to the famous product five years before New Coke hit the market. In 1980, succumbing to pressures from their independent bottlers, Coke permitted a substitution of high fructose corn sweeteners instead of beet and cane sugars originally used. The bottlers, independent franchise owners, wanted to reduce their costs by using the less expensive sugars that came from corn. Offering an ever-expanding line of products increased costs to the bottlers, and the lower-cost sugars helped the bottom lines. For most cola drinkers, the difference in taste was insignificant. Some consumers who considered themselves connoisseurs of Coke said the crisp and bracing taste of Coca-Cola was blunted.

Coca-Cola made with cane sugar is still made in Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and parts of Europe. It’s available online and in specialty stores.

Some conspiracy thinkers said the entire effort to switch to New Coke was a deliberate marketing ploy calculated to increase profits by changing to the use of the less expensive sugars. The company’s rebound was remarkable, and it gave the impression the whole thing was planned. Keep in mind, however, the change in sugars started five years before New Coke hit the market.

Donald Kough shared the leadership of the Coca-Cola Company with Goizeuta as president and chief operating officer. Responding to the unexpected increase of sales after Coca-Cola Classic was brought to the market, Kough make the following statement:

 “Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say that we planned the whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb, and we are not that smart.”

Marketing and advertising experts frequently mention the introduction of New Coke as a cautionary tale. It illustrates how businesses can tamper too extensively with a well-established brand and create a backlash from the consumers.

Thanks for reading this blog. Please take time to see my website www.joevlatino.com. You can read about my book of short stories “The Device.” The book is available through the website as well as Amazon. Look for another blog later this month.

Stonehenge: Ancient Structure, How and Why Unknown

A massive stone monument sits on a chalky plain north of Salisbury, England. Named Stonehenge, its present appearance dates back 5,000 years. It’s older than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Archeologists and historians have been investigating the site for hundreds of years and still can’t find answers to why and how the monument was made. No one can prove the purpose of the monument, and archeologists can’t agree on how the Neolithic residents moved the massive stones to the site and then placed them to form a design. The people were at the end of the Stone Age when the wheel didn’t exist. How they transported and lifted the stones is a mystery.

Carbon dating findings show that what we see now as Stonehenge was begun in 2620 BC and construction stopped in 2300 BC. It’s unclear whether the monument was completed or whether some of the outer stones were taken away to be used for other purposes.

The original beginnings before the stones were laid goes back many more years. Primitive people as far back as 10,000 years ago dug ditches with high embankments called henges using animal antlers and sticks. Henges usually had dirt piled on the outside of the ditches, but the embankments at Stonehenge are on the inside of the circles.        

Two concentric rings make up the structure. The inner circle is made of five doorway-like towers. Two large boulders stand side-by-side and are topped with another stone or lintel to make each tower. These are sarsen stones, which are a type of sandstone. They measure about 30 feet tall and weigh up to an incredible 50,000 pounds each.

An incomplete outer circle has a similar structure. Smaller blue stones, a type of granite, are positioned on the ground of the outer circle. The blue stones, named because of their hue when wet, range in weight from two to five tons each. The monument consists of 153 stones placed 340 feet across the plain.  

The nearest quarry holding blue stones is 40 miles from Stonehenge. Sarsens, the big ones, had to be moved as far as 140 miles away. One of the many theories, and some outrageous guesses, about how Stonehenge was built is that glaciers moved the stones from the faraway quarries to the location. This has been proved impossible.

Among the outrageous theories that existed for many years is that a civilization of giant humans lived in the area and provided the muscle power needed to lift the tonnages of stones. Another theory, and this one actually lasted many years, was that Merlin the magician provided his powers to move and plant the stones. More contemporary thinking from the last century delivered the idea that aliens or outer space visitors provided the technology to move the massive stones.

Even without having a wheel, the Neolithic Europeans of that time had the technology of moving things on sleds or skids. Animal fat was a known lubricant to use under the skids, and they knew about placing tree trunks as primitive wheels underneath loads.

Once the stones were dragged to the site, tree branches could be used to pull the boulders onto their positions, according to some theories. Dirt was piled up and around the tall sarsens to form a ramp, and the lintel caps were pushed into place. All the theories are speculation, because the primitive people living there had no written language to provide any evidence except showing what they did.

The primitive beginning of the earthen ditches, called henges, date as far back as 10,000 years ago in this part of England. Archeologists discovered remains of three large posts that were sunk into the ground. The experts speculated that the wooden posts were totems or some sort of religious symbols. They found a series of 56 deep, ancient holes in the general area of the stone monument, adding to the belief that people worked on the site long before the stones were put into place.

Many historical experts believe that Stonehenge and many surrounding areas are old burial sites. The evidence of bodies buried near and around the monument gives support to that theory. Numerous burial mounds have been found in the area. The scientific discoveries about Stonehenge began in the 1600’s AD through the efforts of King James I of England. The king provided money and people needed to investigate the curious site. Investigators sponsored by the king dug into suspicious depressions near the site and found burned remains of women and children. They concluded that human sacrifice was practiced by the primitive people.

Any human sacrifice was done by a religious group called Druids who came long after Stonehenge was built. The Druids lived with the Celtic residents of England from 300 BC to 1,000 AD. The Druids were religious leaders who believed all things in nature held a deity or god. Druids did practice human sacrifice. 

Another popular thought about the purpose of the stones is that the circled area is a calendar of some kind. The rising sun during the summer solstice and winter solstice does align directly over a heel stone positioned 80 yards outside the outer ring. That’s a unique quality of Stonehenge, but there doesn’t seem to be any other geological meaning to the structure. A popular theory that the site can be used to predict solar eclipses is incorrect.

Many people celebrate the mystery of Stonehenge in an annual celebration during the beginning of summer and winter. During the summer solstice celebration of 1985, more than 100,000 enthusiastic, would-be Druids, filled the area and vandalized the grounds. The visitors dug holes into the earth and left an enormous amount of litter over the area. The British government closed access to Stonehenge until 2000. Now about 30,000 visitors attend during the biannual celebrations under strict guidelines.

Casual visitors and even researchers can access the site only with governmental permits. Investigations to know more about the origins and purposes of Stonehenge continue. We can’t know definitely why and how the enigma exists. We can only have better-informed guesses.

Thank you for reading this blog. Another one will be in this space later this month. Visit my web site at joevlatino.com for information about by book of short stories “The Device.” It’s available on eBook and paperback through Amazon.

Founder of Mother’s Day Tried to Stop It

The second Sunday of this month is the 101^st birthday of Mother’s Day. It’s the annual celebration of the day set aside to honor mothers for their devotions and sacrifices to their families.

Anna Jarvis is responsible for getting President Woodrow Wilson to push a proclamation through the U.S. Congress to officially recognize Mother’s Day as a national celebration in 1914. She started the celebration to honor her own mother, Ann Jarvis, who was a pioneer in helping working class men and women. Ann Jarvis founded Mother’s Day Work Clubs in the late 1800’s. She exposed the horrid working conditions factory workers had to endure. She did this before the benefits of work unions helped to improve working conditions.

By 1920, however, Jarvis (Anna, the daughter) started a national movement to eliminate the annual celebration. Jarvis insisted that the meaning of Mother’s Day to honor mothers had been lost in the commercialism of buying cards, gifts and flowers. She insisted that children needed to hand write letters of appreciation to their mothers and express their gratitude and love in the personal notes. The appropriate flower to present to mothers, according to Jarvis, was a single carnation.

Jarvis, the daughter, incorporated the Mother’s Day International Association and held the trademark for the phrase Mother’s Day. The world-wide payouts for the trademark made her rich and she used her wealth to fund campaigns to eliminate the celebration of mothers. Her fight against the national day drained her fortune, and she died in poverty in 1948. The founder of Mother’s Day never married and died without having children.

The annual celebration for mothers will account for approximately three billion dollars in the United States. Families will average $173.00 for the typical cost of cards, candy, flowers and taking mothers out to eat. Florists, restaurants, retail stores and movie theaters are among the businesses that benefit from the money spent on Mother’s Day.

Since the annual event falls on a Sunday, the expenses of days off for both government and private sector businesses don’t apply. It’s a win-win day for everyone, especially mothers who get the presents.

Thanks for reading this blog. Look for a new blog later this month. See my website www.joevlatino.com for information about my book of short stories, “The Device.”