Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 07:29, 16 October 2006

Sweetest Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast United States (with Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, New York being the biggest Sweetest Day cities ) on the third Saturday in October. It is described by Retail Confectioners International as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed." Critics call Sweetest Day an artificial holiday created solely to boost the revenues of candy and greeting card companies.

Origin of Sweetest Day

The origin of Sweetest day is frequently attributed to candy company employee Herbert Birch Kingston as an act of philanthropy. However Bill Lubinger, a reporter for The Cleveland Plain Dealer, contends that "...Cleveland's top candy makers concocted the promotion 84 years ago and it stuck, although it never became as widely accepted as hoped." This claim is based on the The Cleveland Plain Dealer October 8, 1921 edition, which chronicles the first Sweetest Day in Cleveland. According to the newspaper it was planned by a committee of 12 confectioners, who distributed 19,500 boxes of candy to newsboys, homeless people, orphans, and others who had fallen on hard times in Cleveland, Ohio. The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee was assisted in the distribution of candy by some of the biggest movie stars of the day including Theda Bara and Anne Pennington. Leigh Eric Schmidt traces the origin back to 1910 in his book Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays, where he argues that "Sweetest Day" is a later incarnation of the failed attempt to create a "Candy Day" holiday.

Sweetest Day Today

This tradition now largely involves giving small presents such as greeting cards, candy, and flowers to loved ones. While it is not as large or widely observed as Valentine's Day, it is still celebrated in parts of the United States, despite persistent allegations of being a Hallmark holiday.

References

1. http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/sweetest_day/origins_and_facts_about_sweetest_day.shtml
2. http://www.retailconfectioners.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=60196&module_id=3418
3. http://www.retailconfectioners.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=60196&module_id=3418
4. http://www.theromantic.com/sweetestday.htm
5. The Cleveland Plain Dealer October 15, 2005
6. The Cleveland Plain Dealer October 8, 1921 and October 8, 1922
7. The Cleveland Plain Dealer October 8, 1921 and October 8, 1922
8. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5000558728

Further reading

• Maud Lavin, ed. (2004-10-04). The Business of Holidays. Monacelli. ISBN 1580931502. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Leigh Eric Schmidt (1995-09-01). Consumer rites : the buying & selling of American holidays. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691029806. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Reviewed in Scott C. Martin (1997). "Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays". Journal of Social History. 31.
• Bennett Madison and James Dignan (2002-12-28). I Hate Valentine's Day. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. ISBN 0689873727. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Michael Webb. History of Sweetest Day "Origins and Facts About Sweetest Day". TheRomantic.com. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
• Poem, Quotes, Recipes and Facts on Sweetest Day
• "Sweetest Day was born from one man's kindness…not in the laboratory of a greeting card company". American Greetings Corporation. August 2004.
• "Sweetest Day 2005". Hallmark Cards. September 2005.

Template:HallmarkHoliday

THE OTHER SIDE OF SWEETEST DAY

Sweetest Day is one of the most notable industry-generated hoaxes of the 20th and 21st Centuries. October 8, 2006 was the 85th anniversary of the first Sweetest Day, which was staged in Cleveland by the Candy Industry on October 7th and 8th 1921. In the beginning (1921), Sweetest Day started out as simple consumer manipulation by the Candy Industry, wherein the 12 Confectioners who constituted The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee co-ordinated advertising, news stories and editorials published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper with enormous candy giveaways to poor people in order to (A) convince Clevelanders that a new candy-buying holiday was occurring and (B) that Clevelanders should buy candy for everyone they loved and cared about because everyone else was doing it nationally. The manipulation of Clevelanders' candy-buying habits continued over the first few years, and by 1924 editorials were being published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer informing Clevelanders that Sweetest Day had become a National Institution, and advertisements were calling Sweetest Day National Candy Day. What is perhaps most notable about The Sweetest Day Hoax is that the hoax is still ongoing today, being perpetuated and enhanced by companies such as American Greetings, Hallmark, and Trade Organizations such as Retail Confectioners International. Evidence of the continued attempted manipulation of American Consumers' candy and gift-buying habits are clearly visible in the articles posted on these companies' websites 1 2 3 with the introduction of the completely sanitized and unsourced Herbert Birch Kingston story during the 1990's. The attempts at manipulation can also be clearly seen on the current Misplaced Pages Sweetest Day site by viewing and comparing the former edits of the Sweetest Day page. The Sweetest Day Hoax has influenced millions of Americans and is a multi-billion-dollar effort on the part of Industry to manipulate the buying habits of Americans over the past 85 years.

How Sweetest Day Really Got Started

News articles, editorials and advertising from The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Cleveland Press published in October 1921 and October 1922 show the true beginning of Sweetest Day:

In 1921 a committee of 12 men, all confectioners, planned the details of The Sweetest Day in the Year, a new candy-buying holiday wherein 19,500 of boxes of candy were given by the Candy Industry to the "poor, forgotten and downtrodden" in Cleveland, Ohio. This was in done in order to encourage more solvent citizens to buy candy for their loved ones through guilt.

The 12 Candymakers appointed as Sweetest Day in the Year Committeemen were: C.R. Canter, A.E. Barton, R.T. Fuller, J.J. Wilsdon, R.H. Sheehan, W.A. Katzenmeyer, A.A. Sarouch, Louis Hahn, W.J. Nichols, C.C. Hartsell (chairman of the Sweetest Day in the Year Committee), L. Narwood, and L.E. Gruber. Photos of the 12 Founders of Sweetest Day were first published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer on October 8, 1922.

The 12 Founders of Sweetest Day

• Chairman of The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee C.C. Hartsell Chairman of The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee C.C. Hartsell
• Sweetest Day Founder C.R. Canter Sweetest Day Founder C.R. Canter
• Sweetest Day Founder A.E. Barton Sweetest Day Founder A.E. Barton
• Sweetest Day Founder R.T. Fuller Sweetest Day Founder R.T. Fuller
• Sweetest Day Founder J.J. Wilsdon Sweetest Day Founder J.J. Wilsdon
• Sweetest Day Founder R.H. Sheehan Sweetest Day Founder R.H. Sheehan
• Sweetest Day Founder W.A. Katzenmeyer Sweetest Day Founder W.A. Katzenmeyer
• Sweetest Day Founder A.A. Sarouch Sweetest Day Founder A.A. Sarouch
• Sweetest Day Founder Louis Hahn Sweetest Day Founder Louis Hahn
• Sweetest Day Founder W.J. Nichols Sweetest Day Founder W.J. Nichols
• Sweetest Day Founder L. Narwood Sweetest Day Founder L. Narwood
• Sweetest Day Founder L.E. Gruber Sweetest Day Founder L.E. Gruber

The First Sweetest Day

The 12 founders of Sweetest Day executed a huge candy marketing blitz of Cleveland on October 8th 1921. The first Sweetest Day marketing extravaganza included enormous candy giveaways at Cleveland's Orphanage and Charitable Institutions (10,000 boxes of candy distributed by the Committee). Silent film star Ann Pennington distributed 5,000 boxes of candy to poor people at The Ohio Theater. Actress Theda Bara distributed 2,000 boxes of candy in front of Loew's State Park and Liberty Theaters. Ann Pennington also distributed 2,500 boxes of candy to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's newsboys "for their service to the community," so that the newsboys would go out into the community and tell everyone about Sweetest Day. The number of boxes of candy given away to poor people by the Candy Industry totalled 19,500 on the first Sweetest Day.

The Second Sweetest Day

The second Sweetest Day, which occurred on October 14th, 1922, was an even bigger media event. On October 8th, 1922, to remind Clevelanders that Sweetest Day was coming, a full section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer was devoted to Sweetest Day advertising and activities. The Cleveland Press also published a full-page Sweetest Day editorial on October 12, 1922. Actor Jimmy Hussey promised candy for all Cleveland. The Commissioner of Health from New York City, Royal S. Copeland, was employed to write an article entitled "Eat Candy As Part Of Meal And Be Happy," telling Clevelanders to "Eat Candy as a Portion of Your Daily Meal and Enjoy the Best of Health." Again the 2500 newsboys of Cleveland were given candy under the auspices of The Cleveland Advertising Club. This time the candy was distributed by actress Dorothy Shoemaker, leading lady of the Robert McLaughlin Repertoire Company at the Metropolitan Theater. The first Queen of Sweetest Day was crowned in 1922. Her name was Vera Sissons. Ms. Sissons was 82 years old and lived at the Home for Aged Women. Also in 1922, at least one Sweetest Day article published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer referred to the day as National Candy Day. By 1924 the Candy Industry and The Cleveland Plain Dealer were telling Clevelanders that Sweetest Day had become a National Institution.

(Click on image to read text of the articles.)

• The first Queen of Sweetest Day was 82-year-old Vera Sissons (1922). The first Queen of Sweetest Day was 82-year-old Vera Sissons (1922).
• Article on page two of the Sweetest Day Section written by NYC Health Commissioner telling Clevelanders to "Eat Candy and Be Healthy" (1922). Article on page two of the Sweetest Day Section written by NYC Health Commissioner telling Clevelanders to "Eat Candy and Be Healthy" (1922).
• Jimmy celebrates Sweetest Day in 1922. Jimmy celebrates Sweetest Day in 1922.
• Full page Sweetest Day Editorial published October 8th, 1922, telling Clevelanders why they should celebrate Sweetest Day. Full page Sweetest Day Editorial published October 8th, 1922, telling Clevelanders why they should celebrate Sweetest Day.
• Article explaining how doctors were the first to introduce candies (1922). Article explaining how doctors were the first to introduce candies (1922).
• Article about the naming of Sweetest Day (1922). Article about the naming of Sweetest Day (1922).
• Actor Jimmy Hussey promises candy for all Clevelanders who can't afford it (1922). Actor Jimmy Hussey promises candy for all Clevelanders who can't afford it (1922).
• Use this coupon to send candy to a poor person (1922). Use this coupon to send candy to a poor person (1922).
• Cleveland's Sweetest Day in the Year (1922). Cleveland's Sweetest Day in the Year (1922).
• Crane's Candy Company Sweetest Day advertisement (1922). Crane's Candy Company Sweetest Day advertisement (1922).
• DeKlyn's Chocolate Company Sweetest Day ad (1922). DeKlyn's Chocolate Company Sweetest Day ad (1922).
• On Sunday October 8, 1922, The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Sweetest Day Section reached over 220,000 Clevelanders. On Sunday October 8, 1922, The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Sweetest Day Section reached over 220,000 Clevelanders.
• Marshall's Drug Stores (26 locations) Sweetest Day ad (1922). Marshall's Drug Stores (26 locations) Sweetest Day ad (1922).
• Sweetest Day ad for Bryn Mawr Chocolates (1922). Sweetest Day ad for Bryn Mawr Chocolates (1922).
• Sweetest Day ad for Thurston's Magic Box Candies (1922). Sweetest Day ad for Thurston's Magic Box Candies (1922).
• Candy making article from the Sweetest Day Section of The Cleveland Plain Dealer (1922). Candy making article from the Sweetest Day Section of The Cleveland Plain Dealer (1922).

Companies and organizations advertised in The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Cleveland Press which participated in the first two Sweetest Days included:

The Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper, The Cleveland Business Exchange, The Cleveland Advertising Club, Hotel Statler, Whitman's Candies, Loew's Park Theater, Loew's State Theater, The Ohio Theater, Apollo Chocolates, F.H. Roberts Company, Crane's Party Box, Ohio Confection Company, Euclid's Chocolates, Nimburger Hahn (Louis Hahn?) Candies, Shoot's Chocolates, Thurston's Magic Box Candies, Johnston's Candies, Hoffman's Candy And Ice Cream Companies, H.M.D Candies, Midland Candy Boxes, Standard Drug Stores (16 locations), Troughton's Sugar Jar Candies, Weideman's Candies, Addison Pharmacy, Alpha Pharmacy, The Bank Lunch, Benfield And Benfield (Benfield Drug Company), Bruggator And Ripley, H.D. Butler, W.W. Brown Company, Buckstein Drug Company, Cleveland Pharmacy, Deklyn's Candies, Deutch And Rosengarten, Fischer Rohr Company, Cedar Drug Company, Geiger Moss Drug Company, Geraldine Ferrar Company, Gerson Drug Company, Glick's Candies, Gordon Square Pharmacy, Hough Avenue Drug Company, The J.M. Gasser Company, Kappus Drug Store, Lakewood Pharmacy, Lake Shore Pharmacy, Liggett's Pharmacy, Marshall's Drug Stores (26 locations), Maxixe Cherries, Miller's Drug Stores, Parkgate Pharmacy, Price Drug Company, J.G. Reed And Company, M. Rinzler, Ritter's Candies, Seltzer Drug Company, G. Schneider-Richards Company, The Superior Peanut Company, H.M. Stage Company, Andrew E. Walleck Company, Weinberger-Euclid Drug Company, J.L. Westaway Company, Winton Hotel Drug Company, W.L.Wilson Company, Wyandotte Pharmacy, Wrigleys Gum, Reymer's Chocolates and BonBons, Edwards Candies, MacDiarmids Candies, Phelp's Candy, Mary Lincoln Candy Company, The Cross Candy Company, Forbes Chocolate Company, M. S. Stores, Romance Chocolates by The Wynne Wood, The Orient Company (baskets for candy), The Geo. H. Bowman Company, The May Company, Bailey's Department Store, Benedict's (dancing), Huyler's Candies, Martha Washington Candies, Bordens Chocolates, Schrafft's Chocolates, Playhouse Chocolates, Stranahan Brothers Company, Jackson-Trace Company, Beeman's Pepsin Gum, The Handy Service Store, and Ex-Lax (The Sweet Chocolate Laxative).

Sweetest Day Introduced in New York City by Candymakers

According to The New York Times, "the powers that determine the nomenclature of the weeks of October" decreed that the week beginning on October 10, 1927 would be known as Sweetest Week. The week was punctuated by the First National Candy Exposition which was held on the fourth floor of the Grand Central Palace. More than 70 exhibitors displayed their candies at the exposition, and judges using magnifying glasses awarded the most perfect products "blue ribbons or something equivalent."

On August 10, 1937, a headline on page 38 of The New York Times announced "TO EXPLOIT GIFT-GIVING: Candy Men Set Oct 21 for Event to Be Called 'Sweetest Day'." The article detailed how "representatives of retail stores and candy manufacturers meeting at the Hotel Pennsylvania" had "set October 21 as Sweetest Day, when the World's Fair will have a pageant for the occasion." The purpose of the promotional event was stated to be "to exploit the sentiment of gift-giving on various holidays." It was reported that "the backers hope to include manufacturers and retailers of other types of gift merchandise in the movement." The article listed William C. Kimberly, secretary of The Association of Manufacturers of Candy and Chocolate of the State of New York as chairman of the Sweetest Day Committee. Mr. Kimberly stated in the article that "an opportunity exists for businessmen in the city to develop a special gift-giving occasion which might compare with Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or Easter." Other members of New York's Sweetest Day Committee included A. B. Hoppe, chairman of The Loft, Inc., G. M. Austin of Schrafft's Candies, Bruce McConvey of Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, and Oscar Seager of Huyler's Candy, Inc.

On September 25, 1937, The New York Times reported under Advertising News and Notes that The National Confectioners Association had launched a "movement throughout the candy industry" to rank Sweetest Day with the nationally accepted Mother's Day, Father's Day, and St. Valentine's Day. The article reported that "the volume of candy sales on Sweetest Day in Cleveland last year exceeded by 18 per cent any other day in 1936." The article further stated that "some retail stores reported that Sweetest Day candy sales exceeded those of any Saturday in the year by more than 60 per cent." The National Confectioners Association also announced in the article that "the movement to gain national recognition of Sweetest Day originated in Cleveland and Cincinnati, and it has spread to Detroit, Buffalo, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, and many other cities and communities."

According to The New York Times, Sweetest Day was also proclaimed by Candymakers in New York City on October 19, 1940. The promotional event was marked by the distribution of more than 10,000 boxes of candy by the Sweetest Day Committee. The candy was distributed among 26 local charities. 225 children were given candy in the chapel at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children on October 17, 1940. 600 boxes of candy were also delivered to the presidents of the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic Big Sister groups of New York. The event was reported one day early in The New York Times, on October 18, 1940.

The Mischaracterization of Herbert Birch Kingston

Countless internet websites including those of American Greetings, Hallmark and Retail Confectioners International attribute the origins of Sweetest Day to candy store employee and philanthropist Herbert Birch Kingston. A Google search for Herbert Birch Kingston returns over 100,000 results. A Google image search, however, returns zero results. Cuyahoga County, Ohio census results from the year prior to the first Sweetest Day show Herbert Birch Kingston's occupation as advertiser. The census also shows that Mr. Kingston owned his home, but that a mortgage was in place on the property. To date, no primary source of information links Mr. Kingston to the origins of Sweetest Day in any way.

• Herbert Birch Kingston clearly listed his profession as advertiser on the 1910 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census (click to enlarge image). Herbert Birch Kingston clearly listed his profession as advertiser on the 1910 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census (click to enlarge image).
• Mr. Kingston also listed his profession as advertiser on the 1920 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census (click to enlarge image). Mr. Kingston also listed his profession as advertiser on the 1920 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census (click to enlarge image).
• On the 1930 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census Herbert Birch Kingston lists his profession as Proprietor (owner) of a Confectionery. Note the "E" in column 27 which indicates Mr. Kingston was an Employer. (click to enlarge image). On the 1930 Cuyahoga County, Ohio Census Herbert Birch Kingston lists his profession as Proprietor (owner) of a Confectionery. Note the "E" in column 27 which indicates Mr. Kingston was an Employer. (click to enlarge image).

Sweetest Day 2006

October 8, 2006 was the 85th anniversary of the First Sweetest Day. Over the past 85 years Sweetest Day has been promoted relentlessly by the Candy and Greeting Card Industries. For the past 20 years or more, American Greetings and Hallmark have jumped on the disinformation bandwagon to promote this engineered observance through obfuscation of its origins. Sweetest Day has never been a tradition (except for the industries which promote it on false pretenses), and has never migrated anywhere that the Candy and Greeting Card Industries didn't take it. World War Two did not interrupt the promotion of Sweetest Day. Neither did the events of 9/11/2001. American Greetings, Hallmark, Retail Confectioners International and every retailer who participates in this manufactured holiday have promoted Sweetest Day five times since 9/11/2001. American Greetings blatantly expanded its promotion in 2006 with a Sweetest Day eCards promotion page on it's website.

In 2006 the date set by the industries for celebrating Sweetest Day is October 21.

References

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer October 8, 1921 and October 8, 1922 (multiple pages).
• The Cleveland Press October 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1921, and October 12, 13, 14, 1922 (multiple pages).
• The New York Times October 10, 1927 (page 27), September 25, 1937 (page 22), August 10, 1939 (page 38), October 12, 1940 (page 28), and October 18, 1940 (page 23).
• US Department of Commerce and Labor, 13th, 14th, and 15th Census of Cuyahoga County, Ohio (1910, 1920, 1930)

External Links

• Watch the Sweetest Day Movie on YouTube!

Websites which promote The Sweetest Day Hoax:

• Michael Webb. History of Sweetest Day "Origins and Facts About Sweetest Day". TheRomantic.com. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
• Poem, Quotes, Recipes and Facts on Sweetest Day
• "Sweetest Day was born from one man's kindness…not in the laboratory of a greeting card company". American Greetings Corporation. August 2004.
• "Sweetest Day 2005". Hallmark Cards. September 2005.

• Holidays in the United States
• October observances