FIRST OF MAY.

On the itinerant circus, that used to be the traditional beginning of the travel season, and a "First of May" was a novice trouper who had a lot to learn.  There are still itinerant circuses, and some of them have been on the road for some time this season.

In political economy, the first of May is the celebration of socialist labor.  Tsar Vladimir has ditched the Soviet era parade, in favor of a wallow next week in the Great Patriotic War, although European socialists still use the day, which commemorates a strike put down roughly in Chicago, to call attention to the unfinished business of the class struggle.

The International Workers’ Congress in Paris designated May Day as a public holiday in 1889, and in 1919 the National Assembly in Weimar declared it a public holiday in Germany. It is observed by holding meetings, marches and giving public speeches, mostly organized by trade unions.

Long before anybody heard of Karl Marx, the day was also for honoring the rites of spring.

Many customs and symbols are connected with May Day. Maigloeckchen (Maybells) are in bloom, houses and dance halls are decked with young green grass and flowers, and people sing songs to celebrate this joyous occasion. May is the month most sung about by poets and song-writers. A part of the celebrations are ceremonial plantings of young trees. The Maypole is put up and there are dances around it. There may be a May play or a May Queen contest. In some areas, a whole village may gather around a Maypole. Everybody holds hands, dances, drinks, and is happy not to have to be at work for a day. There may be a merry procession to Maypole or dance hall, where the May Queen ceremonially declares winter defeated and opens the dance.

The Maypole and the dance around it is a major symbol of spring’s reawakening of fruitfulness. May was known as the “Wonnemond,” the month of lovers where a young man’s fancy would turn to love. In May the largest number of weddings take place. Over time the Maibaum (May Tree) lost its original meaning, that of celebrating a wedding. In the old days, young unmarried men of the village would organize and sponsor parties, dances and celebrations, to get the unmarried maidens of the village into the spirit of May. If then a wedding would take place, a tree decorated with colorful streamers and ribbons would be placed in front of the bride’s house.

That's having too much fun for the menopausal neurotics of public radio. "There's nothing in [International Workers' Day] for the capitalist class."  Boy howdy, those people would be fun at the Maypole dance, wouldn't they?  We'll honor their sour mood today in a series of posts on the bitter existence the self-styled progressives have offered us.

We'll also honor the German tradition, not by chasing the maidens, but by noting the way civil society makes the Wonnemond possible.

There will be opportunities to quaff beer before Oktoberfest season arrives.