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All the Presidents… President’s… Presidents’… meh, whatever.
by Mary - February 19, 2007 - 7:32 AM

C39_B3_2SILVER.jpgWait, what day is it again? From The New Yorker:

According to some of the calendars and appointment books floating around this office, Monday, February 19th, is Presidents’ Day. Others say it’s President’s Day. Still others opt for Presidents Day. Which is it? … The answer, strictly speaking, is none of the above. Ever since 1968, when, in one of the last gasps of Great Society reformism, holidays were rejiggered to create more three-day weekends, federal law has decreed the third Monday in February to be Washington’s Birthday. And Presidents’/’s/s Day? According to Prologue, the magazine of the National Archives, it was a local department-store promotion that went national when retailers discovered that, mysteriously, generic Presidents clear more inventory than particular ones, even the Father of His Country. Now everybody thinks it’s official, but it’s not.

And by the way, it’s not Washington’s actual birthday, either — we missed that by nine days.

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Comments (4)

  1. If we’re going to strict about it, it should be “Presidents’ Day”. I can’t recall exactly when it happened (other than ‘within my lifetime’) but today is supposed to celebrate both Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s. They were combined into one to make the “Monday Holiday”

    posted by Howie Modell on 2-19-2007 at 11:33 am

  2. I would have figured it to be Presidents Day. No possessive required - like Groundhog Day, Flag Day, Martin Luther King Day, etc. The day is set aside to honor its namesake, not because it belongs to them.

    posted by Bill T. on 2-19-2007 at 1:53 pm

  3. Washington’s birthday is the 22nd. That’s off nine days from what?

    Anywho, my chief complaint is that I have to work today. I need to move back to CA where you get more holidays.

    I have to assume that my company doesn’t mind me reading mental_floss during my lunch break, right?

    posted by Stephen on 2-19-2007 at 2:19 pm

  4. Used to get holidays off for both Lincoln’s and washington’s BD. Now schools are ff only on President’s day. Cheap trick.

    posted by Glen McGuffin on 2-21-2007 at 11:11 am

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