It may not be a big, flashy, or a romantic holiday like Valentine’s Day, but Sweetest Day is a holiday that is rooted in the idea that everyone needs to feel loved, appreciated and recognized. It is always celebrated on the third Sunday in October. It began some time around 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, when a man by the name of Herbert Birch Kingston, who happened to be employed at a candy company, decided that there were too many people who were neglected and forgotten. He rationalized that they deserved happiness, just as much as anyone else.
He and other employees of the candy company got together and brought gifts and candy to people who were housebound, orphans, and others who were typically forgotten.
The basic idea behind sweetest day continues to serve as a reminder to everyone, that even the smallest gestures such as a kind word, a good deed, a helping hand on a house project, or a card or gift, is a tangible way to share good cheer, and to show others that you care.
By the 1930’s, the holiday spread throughout the city of Cleveland, and important actors of the time joined in this idea of sharing goodness. Theda Bara and Ann Pennington both demonstrated kindness, by bringing gifts to people. Bara handed out candy to patients in Cleveland hospitals and people going to theater, while Pennington handed out candy to 2200 newspaper boys in the city of Cleveland.
Since its start in the 1920’s, the idea of showing kindness spread, and people are encouraged to recognize family members, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, church parishioners, and even co-workers, all in the name of spreading good cheer and happiness.
Sweetest Day is most widely recognized in the Midwest, because that is where the holiday started. Observances are widespread and prevalent throughout Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, but it is an important holiday for florists.
Show a special person in your life that you love them – with a gift of flowers. Or recognize the difficult journey of an acquaintance, co-worker, friend, loved one or neighbor who has survived breast cancer. Sweetest Day bouquets can be filled with roses, or combinations of other flowers.
Shades of Pink and Red Roses is the perfect arrangement to give to a breast cancer survivor, (or anyone else,) because pink is the color of breast cancer, and October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
If you want to show someone you love, how deeply you feel, choose either the P.S.. I Love You Bouquet, or the modern, but elegant Love Squared bouquet. If you really want to take the Sweetest Day message to the extreme for that special loved one in your live, give them the Indulgent Luxury Rose bouquet. When you want to send a bouquet, just to show someone you care, without the romantic sentiments, the Eloquent Bouquet by Vera Wang is the perfect choice. Shades of purple, lavender and light green catch the eye in this stunning display that shares your heartfelt sentiments with elegance and class.
