IHOP celebrates National Pancake Day unlike any other company. Courtesy of twitter.com
Holidays like New Years, Halloween and Christmas are well recognized in American culture. On New Year’s Eve, we watch the ball drop in Times Square; for Halloween we dress up in costumes and collect candy; and on Christmas, we sit around a decorated tree and open presents.
But what are we supposed to do on National Backward Day or National Cuddle Up Day? These daily holidays have been around for years but a recent resurgence in popularity has brought them back into the public eye through trending social media hashtags, categories that have propelled third tier events into the holiday major leagues.
For example, National Pancake Day, held on March 8th this year, has become a major American celebration. IHOP, the International House of Pancakes for the unadulterated, started the national holiday in 2006 and has never looked back since. In fact, patrons of the famous breakfast food chain receive a free dish of buttermilk pancakes on each holiday. In return, IHOP asks for a suggested donation from patrons to be sent to charities and nonprofits of their choosing. Since 2006, IHOP has raised around $20 million for charities and this year, they hope to raise $3.5 million.
National Read Across America was held on March 2 this year in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Courtesy of http://itsmetyler.com
Created by the National Education Association, National Read Across America Day is held annually on March 2, the anniversary of children’s author Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel’s) birthday. First started in 1998, the holiday encourages schools, libraries, celebrity and political figures to encourage reading throughout the year. On social media, the #NationalReadAcrossAmerica hashtag is littered with images celebrating not only reading but the life of Dr. Seuss. People dressed up in classic Seuss characters such as the Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two to spread the word and honor Dr. Seuss’ memory.
Food holidays and movement holidays are on the rage but people based holidays are nothing new. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are widely celebrated, even Grandparent’s Day in parts of the country but in the trend of daily holidays that are taking over the Internet have popularized days like International Women’s Day, National Joe Day and Single Parents Day.
National Single Parent Day this year is on March 21. Courtesy of NationalDayCalendar.com
Single Parents Day was first thought of in 1984 in an article by Janice Moglen. After joining with Parents Without Partners, a petition was drafted by the states to declare March 21st as Single Parents Day and President Ronald Regan made the request official in 1984. The #SingleParentsDay is celebrated across all social media platforms, much like Mothers Day and Fathers Day, praising the hardworking single parents across the nation, whether they are fathers or mothers.
These daily holidays that trend everyday have allowed us not only to make an excuse of posting silly images on Facebook and tagging loved ones with them but they shed light on different organizations and causes, celebrate our favorite food and drinks and show appreciation to our friends and family.
Stay up to date with National Day Calendar and #CelebrateEveryday!