TT: Commemorates What, Exactly?

Looking for the Wednesday Wandering?  Page back one to learn not only what a tishien is but how thrilling it is to see words turned into pictures.  Then come back for a return to a former theme.  Several month ago, Alan and I were discussing holidays.  In honor (and even “honour”) of the coming of  Armistice Day, we decided to return to that theme this week.

JANE: Alan, back when we were discussing holidays, you mentioned that your mom’s birthday was also Armistice Day.  We don’t have a holiday by that name.   How did sharing with a holiday effect your mom’s celebration?  Did she get anything chocolate out of it?  Little foil wrapped tanks or something?

WW II Memorial: Washington, D.C.

ALAN: That would have been a very appropriate gift. What a shame I never thought of it at the time.

When I was a little boy I was always really impressed that on my mother’s birthday everybody in the country wore a poppy to celebrate it, and the Queen laid a wreath at the Cenotaph. The wreath laying ceremony was always broadcast on the TV news.  This just confirmed what I already knew  – my mum was a really important and influential person. It was only later in life that I came to realize that it wasn’t all for my mum. Some of it was to remember and commemorate the soldiers who died in WWI, and also, of course, in later conflicts as well.

But I never quite lost the conviction that most of it was for my mum.

JANE: Oh!  I think we do have that holiday but, like too many holidays created to celebrate specific events, it has become generic.  Here, Armistice Day is now Veteran’s Day.  It is still anchored to November 11th, but except for kids and a few government workers getting a holiday, no one pays much attention.

ALAN: Just like you, we use the ceremony to commemorate the dead of far too many wars. So for that reason, we often now refer to it as Remembrance Day rather than Armistice Day. But the older name is still used.

Strangely, we don’t get a holiday for it. I would have thought that it would be an ideal choice for a public holiday. But what do I know?

JANE: I must admit, I have a rant on that’s related to this.

ALAN: Kindly rant.

JANE: Too many days of commemoration have become generic and therefore lost any meaning at all.   Here in the U.S., we used to have Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday.   Now we have President’s Day.   Since just about everyone has a gripe about some president or other, the day is not really a celebration.

We used to have Decoration Day (which originated after  our Civil War).   Now we have Memorial Day and no one remembers what we’re remembering.

I’m still not sure what Labor Day is about.  Since it falls at the end of summer, when I was a kid, I thought it was “Labor” day because we were going back to our labors in the classroom.

I think I’d prefer for old commemorations to remain as they were, rather than becoming so diluted that they lose all meaning.  At least we’d get a history lesson that way.

ALAN: Well said – I couldn’t agree more. But sometimes circumstances force us into behaviours that quickly become entrenched in custom. A good example is a very strange holiday that only happens in the North of England. It’s called Wakes Week and, as the name implies, it lasts for a week. Except when it lasts for a fortnight. This is England we’re talking about and the last thing you’ll find there is logic.

Wake’s Week takes place at the height of summer in the Northern counties which were once the industrial heart of England. Every year the mills and the factories would close down so that the machinery could be serviced and refurbished. So that was the time when  all the workers took their annual summer holiday.

JANE: Why is it called Wakes Week?

ALAN: Why not? Not a very satisfactory answer to your question I agree, but it’s the only honest one. I have no idea of the derivation and neither, it seems, does anyone else.

Traditionally, during Wakes Week, everyone would go to the seaside; usually (in our case at least) to Scarborough or Morecambe – pronounced SCAR-bru (short ‘u’, sort of a grunt) and MORE-cum respectively. We’d roll our trousers up and paddle in the sea.  We’d tie a knotted handkerchief around our head to protect ourselves from the sunshine. Yes – I *know* that’s a cliche and you’ve seen it parodied a million times on TV shows like Monty Python, but it’s a cliche because it’s true. I’ve seen both my father and grandfather do it, and believe me they were not alone.

JANE: Did you do it too?

ALAN: I’ve certainly done the knotted handkerchief but, at the time of which we speak I was still a small boy in short trousers, so I didn’t have anything to roll up. It saved a lot of time…

JANE: Ah, yes.  I remember the days of my youth when I’d go swimming in whatever I was wearing at the time – usually shorts and a tee-shirt. That stopped when I started having what people go to wet tee-shirt contests to view.

Now that I think of it, didn’t you mention an interesting New Zealand holiday a few weeks back…  It began with Wai…

ALAN:  Ah, yes! Waitangi Day. On 6th February 1840, a treaty was signed between the Maori tribes and the white settlers. Effectively it brought New Zealand under the rule of the British Crown and guaranteed the Maori rights to their land, and the rights of  British subjects. The treaty was signed in a town called Waitangi (hence the name of both the treaty and the holiday). We regard the treaty in much the same way that you regard the Declaration of Independence; it’s the founding document of our nation and we celebrate it with a holiday every year.

JANE: How do the Maori feel about it?  As I mentioned a while back, some of the Native Americans view Thanksgiving with less than thankfulness.

ALAN: Waitangi Day is not without its controversial aspects but nevertheless the Treaty of Waitangi has given Maori a status that few, if any, other indigenous people have managed to achieve in other colonial outposts. The treaty has not been well implemented and there have certainly been abuses, but nevertheless it puts Maori in a very strong position. For all its flaws, I still think its heart was in the right place.

And Waitangi Day is a commemoration which most certainly has not become generic. Its significance is still strongly appreciated so it is perhaps a counter example to your rant. It’s nice to know that there are exceptions, don’t you think?

JANE: Absolutely.  Makes me happy, actually.  Now, you thought you were going to escape from answering questions about British titles, but I’ve thought of a new one!