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1st May -May Day

Updated: Sep 10, 2023

In medieval and modern Europe, May 1 was celebration of the return of spring. The observance probably originated in ancient agricultural rituals, and the Greeks and Romans held such festivals. Although later practices varied widely, the celebrations came to include the gathering of wildflowers and green branches, the weaving of floral garlands, the crowning of a May king and queen, and the setting up of a decorated May tree, or Maypole, around which people danced.


Such rites originally may have been intended to ensure fertility for crops and, by extension, for livestock and humans, but in most cases this significance was gradually lost, so that the practices survived largely as popular festivities.


Local Schoolchildren Celebrating May Day


Among the many superstitions associated with May Day was the belief that washing the face with dew on the morning of May 1 would beautify the skin. Because the Puritans of New England considered the celebrations of May Day to be licentious and pagan, they forbade its observance, and the holiday never became an important part of American culture. In the 20th century, traditional May Day celebrations declined in many countries as May 1 became associated with the international holiday honouring workers and the labour movement.



 
 
 

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Because History Matters

Mundaring and Hills Historical Society 

Mundaring Station Master's House

3060 Jacoby Street

Mundaring 6073

Western Australia

08 9295 0540

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Mundaring District Museum

Old Mundaring School

Great Eastern Highway

Mundaring 6073

Western Australia

08 9295 0540

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 4.00pm

Sunday & Public Holidays 10.30am to 2.30pm

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