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Mother's Day Marks Its 100th Anniversary In 2008: Philadelphia Resident Anna Jarvis Conceived National Holiday Philadelphia, The City Of Motherly Love, Will Honor Moms On Saturday, May 10, 2008

Press Release

Visuals Available: Mother’s Day historic marker adorned with flowers, Anna Jarvis’ gravestone and Mother’s Day celebration at Macy’s.

MOTHER’S DAY MARKS ITS 100^TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2008: PHILADELPHIA RESIDENT ANNA JARVIS CONCEIVED NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Philadelphia, The City Of Motherly Love, Will Honor Moms On Saturday, May 10, 2008

PHILADELPHIA, May 5, 2008 - To mark the 100^th anniversary of Mother’s Day, started by Philadelphia resident and West Virginia native Anna Jarvis to honor her mother Anna Marie, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and the Office of the City Representative are organizing the “City of Motherly Love” celebration on Saturday, May 10, 2008. The open-to-the-public event will take place at 12:00 noon at the Wanamaker Building, where the first Mother’s Day celebration took place in 1908 thanks to Philadelphia entrepreneur John Wanamaker. (Another Mother’s Day commemoration took place simultaneously in West Virginia.) The building is located at 13^th and Market Streets and is now home to Macy’s Center City.

Anna Jarvis' grave at West Laurel Hill Cemetery

Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

The event will begin with a musical tribute to Jarvis on the Wanamaker Organ, complete with 28,541 pipes, in Macy’s Grand Court. Philadelphia’s Tasty Baking Company, makers of the Tastykake® snack line, will present a special cake created from various icon products and featuring the Mother’s Day historical marker. And as a special tribute to Philadelphia, Southwest Airlines will give away southwestgiftcards™ valued at $100 each courtesy of the Southwest Airlines Visa Card from Chase. (Details on how to win them will be announced at the event.) In addition, Philadelphians who apply for the Southwest Airlines Visa card at the event will enjoy a limited time offer of a free roundtrip flight after their first purchase with the card.

To add to the celebration, Robertson’s Flowers will decorate the historic marker that commemorates Anna Jarvis and Mother’s Day located outside the Wanamaker Building. Mayor Michael Nutter, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, will issue a proclamation as a tribute to the 82 million U.S. moms (source: U.S. Census) who will celebrate Mother’s Day in 2008. In addition, a giant bouquet of white carnations and roses will be placed at the gravesites of Anna Jarvis and her mother at Philadelphia’s historic West Laurel Hill Cemetery on Friday, May 9. Jarvis’ mother passed away on May 9, 1905 at the age of 72, and Anna died November 24, 1948.

The first Mother’s Day celebrations occurred simultaneously in Philadelphia and West Virginia on May 10, 1908, and that year a bill was submitted to Congress to declare it a national holiday. In 1914, Mother’s Day gained official national holiday designation.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery.

CONTACTS:

Jeff Guaracino, GPTMC
(215) 599-2290, jeff@gptmc.com
Julie Strider, Macy’s
(212) 494-7433, julie.strider@macys.com

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