‘Fake’ national holidays, why do people celebrate them?

Thanksgiving, Christmas and News Year’s aren’t the only holidays people are celebrating this winter season.

Ever heard of National Make Up Your Mind Day, Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day, or International Ninja Day? These are just some examples of celebrations referred to as social media holidays, fake holidays, or — as they’re best known as — national holidays.

National holidays allow something to be celebrated each day of the year, and often there are multiple each day.

Federal holidays, also known as public or legal holidays, are something completely different. Federal holidays cannot be created by anyone with an idea and registering it into a website. It must be recognized by the U.S. government.

However, it isn’t as simple as the U.S. president picking a random day and declaring a celebration. Federal holidays are established by Congress for many different reasons.

According to the Congressional Research Service, reasons include emphasizing a certain aspect of our country’s culture to show patriotism, the anniversary of a particular event that reflects American history or — in other circumstances — Congress has created a holiday because a large number of states start to celebrate a state holiday they think is important and relevant.

And although, legally, federal holidays are only applicable to the District of Columbia and federal employees to avoid restricting each state to certain rules, it still affects each state because of things like mail delivery, business hours and school closures.

There are currently 11 federal holidays, with the first being Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s established in 1870 and the most recent being Juneteenth established in 2021.

However, people don’t always want to wait for the next excuse to celebrate.

One of those people is former Aggie Brandon Ellis who created his own Instagram page with his friends that was dedicated to posting every single day to recognize the national holiday that day.

Starting on July 5, 2018, Ellis had success for an entire year, celebrating 432 holidays in total.

“Life is hard, especially with constant bad news and plenty of difficulties that are unique to each individual,” Ellis said. “Marketing schemes aside, a reason to celebrate a holiday doesn’t have to be grand. Appreciating the tender mercies that make life meaningful is a good enough reason for me.”

Although the Instagram account — @Holidaybois — only has 128 followers, Ellis said the fans they did have, looked forward to their celebrations.

Some fan favorites from the account include National Boss Employee Exchange Day, where he and his friends dressed up as characters from “The Office,” and National Umbrella Day where they choreographed a dance to the song “Umbrella” by Rihanna.

As stated from an article on Racked, one of the very first national holidays was established in 1983 by the Chicago Salvation Army as National Donut Day, to recognize the women who handed out donuts to soldiers in World War I.

And even though these national holidays have been around since 1983, it isn’t typical to walk around and see festivities going on at every corner for the holiday that day or hear about what type of chocolate someone got on their countdown calendar.

Some hope to keep it that way and argue that it will ruin what makes holidays — with real meaning — special.

Anneka Johns, a USU junior, questioned why others even entertain the idea.

“Why make a big deal of it? Can’t you just celebrate the little things without having to let the whole world know?” Johns said.

Others disagree and argue that these national holidays allow each individual to celebrate something that reflects their own passions and gives people a chance to recognize the little things without feeling the pressure.

Alexis Johnson, a USU student, who has celebrated multiple holidays herself, said, “Honestly, it’s fun to step away from the giant holidays and kind of just see something simple. Sometimes the simpler things are more fun and more uplifting.”

Some journalists have even joined in on the debate and say not only are holidays pointless, but they are also disrespectful and inconsiderate.

In an article from The Atlantic, James Hamblin explained that these made-up reasons to recognize random things are taking away from more important issues.

“North Korea tested a ballistic missile. Prisoners in Egypt refused food in protest of inhumane treatment. Residents of Baltimore rebuked the president of the United States for calling their district ‘a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,’” Hamblin wrote. “Yet for much of the day, the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter was avocados.”

The article continued to explain that not only does it show people’s unsympathetic or uneducated abilities but shows how quick people can give away free advertising without even knowing it.

“Whimsical as these days seem, the creation and maintenance of national days are a phenomenon with massive financial implications,” Hamblin said. “Many such days are used — or were even specifically invented — to coax people to talk about products and services.”

With that being said, national holidays only continue to get more popular. There is even a national holiday on March 26 that has been deemed “Make Up Your Own Holiday Day,” to promote creativity and spark imagination.

Even so, there is no official number for how many national holidays there are due to constant new additions and depending on the website, you can get different answers on what national holiday is actually being celebrated that day.

One website in particular, National Day Calendar, claims to be the authoritative source for information and includes national holiday merchandise, a daily radio network, social media pages, email newsletters, recipes, promotion collaboration opportunities and even holiday ambassadors.

This website also provides an opportunity to submit a request to register an idea as a national holiday, for a price.

According to Business Insider, the owner of the company and website, Marlo Anderson, will provide a framed proclamation of the holiday for $1,500, if it is approved. For $2,500, he will arrange special interviews with the media. For $4,000, Anderson will travel to events to advertise the holiday.

This is some evidence that proves Hamblin’s theory to be true. Although, like any successful business, they continue to provide what people are showing they want.

And though some individuals like Johns don’t believe in national holidays, even she can admit that some are more popular than others.

For example, there are 1.1 million posts on Instagram using #NationalBoyfriendDay, compared to 2,800 posts using #NationalDeviledEggDay.

Either way, everyone has something special in their own lives that they commemorate, and it is ultimately up to each individual on whether or not each national holiday is relevant enough to them to celebrate.

Now only one question remains, will the creation of national holidays ever stop? Maybe, but not likely to be anytime soon. Anderson explained in an article to Racked, that after receiving 5,000 proposals last year, he accepted only six to ensure that this entertaining lifestyle doesn’t become chaotic and extinct.

-Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu