Mum’s the word

Despite the sad news that due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, it isn’t advisable to hold large family gatherings this Mother’s Day, it doesn’t mean we can’t still send Mother’s Day cards and gifts in the post.

The Mother’s Day that we know and love today has an intriguing history that stretches back centuries, and originally bore no relation to mothers whatsoever.

In the sixteenth century, returning to your home or ‘mother’ church, was an important annual occasion. Each year, children who left home at a young age to work as domestic servants or apprentices were allowed a day off in the middle of Lent to visit their mother church.

This became an important occasion for rare family reunions. Children returning home might bring a bunch of handpicked flowers to give to their mother. Home-baked Simnel cakes, a type of fruit cake topped with marzipan, could also be brought as gifts, as the Lenten fasting rules were relaxed for the day so that mums didn’t need to feel guilty about enjoying their special treats.

The roots of Mothering Sunday in this country are unrelated to the American Mother’s Day celebration which falls in May. But we do owe our friends across the pond for the modern revival of paying tribute to our mums.

The modern version of Mother’s Day took root in the United States when Anna Jarvis formed a campaign to celebrate motherhood, following the death of her own mother in 1905. This led to the US celebration being established in 1914.

In the UK, the evolution of the religious holiday was largely attributed to Constance Smith, the daughter of an Anglican clergyman living in Nottingham. She had read about Jarvis’ campaign and was inspired to publish a pamphlet entitled The Revival of Mothering Sunday. This resurgence of Mother’s Day was amplified by the First World War, when many mothers lost their sons fighting in Europe.

It was around this point that the widespread commercial phenomenon of Mother’s Day cards began. However, more unique examples of cards to mothers can be found from much earlier. The pictured card, dating to around 1860 and held by The Postal Museum in London, is gilt-embossed and decorated with fabric and floral pieces. The lines of verse on the right hand side of the card, have been added to our new Mother’s Day parcel postbox in Swansea city centre.

Is it safe to post on Mother’s Day?

We are continuing to reassure customers that they should not be concerned about posting Mother's Day presents home as Public Health England has said that coronavirus Covid-19 cannot survive for long on objects such as letters and parcels.

Posting cards and gifts is a safe way to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, in light of the Government's new advice against non-essential contact with others and its promotion of 'social distancing'. For now, it is very much business as usual at Royal Mail.

A detailed and regularly updated questions and answers document is available to all colleagues on our coronavirus homepage.

For all other coronavirus-related queries, please contact coronavirus.support@royalmail.com.