October 12: One Day, Many Names

October 12 is known as Children's Day here in Brazil. The origin of this festive occasion is quite simple, as reported in http://www.idbrasil.org.br/drupal/?q=node/30887

In the 1920s, Congressman Galdino do Valle Filho had the idea of "creating" Children's Day. The Chamber of Deputies approved his proposal and October 12 was established as Children's Day by President Arthur Bernardes by Decree No. 4867 of November 5, 1924.

But it was only in 1960, when the Estrela Toy Company and Johnson & Johnson joined forces to launch "Rugged Baby Week" and increase their sales, that the date actually came to be celebrated. The strategy worked, because since then Children's Day has been celebrated with lots of presents!

You would think that a country as materialistic and capitalistic as the U.S. would have been the pioneer in creating a day for kids and their presents but in fact, there is nothing like Brazilian Children's Day in the United States. Several child- related celebrations of a religious nature date from the mid 19th century but have had no resonance outside the churches that observed them. Bill Clinton established a Children's Day on October 8 in response to a letter from a four-year-old girl who asked him to make a holiday for her and George W. Bush proclaimed the first Sunday in June as "The Day of the Child", but these dates are unknown to the general public and have no commercial importance whatever. For presents, kids have to make do with Christmas and their birthdays.

But Oct. 12 will not go by unnoticed in the US of A. Although not celebrated by everybody (businesses and schools generally do not close), this date is known as Columbus Day, the Day of the Discovery of America and in the Hispanic part of the country as El Dia de la Raza.

According to Wikipedia,

Since 1971, the holiday has been fixed to the second Monday in October, coincidentally the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada (which was fixed to that date in 1959). It is generally observed today by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies, most state government offices, and some school districts. Some businesses and some stock exchanges remain open, also some states and municipalities abstain from observing the holiday.[5]


In Oregon, we went to school and generally had a skit, film or some other presentation about Columbus and his momentous landing. Classes proceeded normally. Every year in New York, more than 35,000 people participate in the Columbus Day Parade, largely a celebration of the Italian-American community. Columbus was, after all, an Italian from Genoa.

Happy Children's Day! Happy Columbus Day!