Now, Me & Henry is British and based in London but the majority of our business is in the US and with so much time spent in America we understand, love and care for our American friends and customers and we know that Memorial Day is a big event so wanted to find out more about it!
There are so many interesting facts so we thought we would pull out some and share them - although you probably know them already!
Commemorating the 620,000+ lives that died in the Civil War, it was originally called 'Decoration Day' where families would 'decorate' graves with flowers and flags.
The birthplace of Memorial Day seems to be commonly known as Waterloo, NY where the first celebration took place in 1866 to honour the locals who had fought in the Civil War. But apparently this is questioned because in 1864, women from Boalsburg, PA started to put flowers on graves who had fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and the next year the same happened in Vicksburg, MS.
Many claim women in the hospital town of Columbus, Mississippi were laying flowers on ALL graves before any mention of an official day and there are actually 25 places that claim they started it.
The name 'Memorial Day' started to be used in 1882 but it didn't officially become called that until a law was passed in 1967.
The exact date it is celebrated has also changed - originally it was always May 30th believed to be the only date that wasn't an anniversary of a specific battle.
But in 1971 the date was moved to be the final Monday in May.
It was also originally supposed to be a day just to honour those that died in the Civil War but after WWI it became a day to remember all American armed forces that died in any battle. Since the American Revolution of 1775 that adds up to a sobering 1.2million.
There is no question - Memorial Day is an important and solemn day to remember but nowadays as well as visiting lost ones graves and resting places it is a day to celebrate togetherness and family, with parades - as it always has been- but now with added bbq's and picnics.
Memorial Day also tends to mark the official start of Summer for most Americans - so lets celebrate by getting your kids out there in their new Summer wardrobe.
We have plenty of red, white and blue clothing as well as smart outfits for meeting ups with the family.
Whatever you do to celebrate - have a wonderful day - just remember to pause for a minutes silence at 3pm on Monday!
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