Saturday, October 16 is Sweetest Day, a counterpart to Valentine’s Day that few Americans celebrate. Nevertheless, if you are thinking about starting a new annual tradition with your sweetie, you should at least know a little bit of the history of the day most people see as just a “Hallmark holiday.”
On Friday, Dunkin Donuts celebrated Sweetest Day by giving away ‘free donuts’ to employees whom were accompanied by their employer. This honored both Boss’s Day and Sweetest Day.
One employee, Ruth, of Dunkin Donuts whom turns 80 in a few months and has worked for the company for over 25 years was the inspiration behind the idea. She is one of 18 employees who received an award from her employer at the Pittsburgh Dunkin Donuts in recognition of her sweet reputation and dedicated service. Dunkin Donuts calls it the Sweetest Employee Award.
Owner of the Pittsburgh store, Annette Miller, said, “Ruth’s like family,” Mrs. Miller said. “She goes above and beyond every day with her kindness and cheerful attitude… She’s wonderful.”
Sweetest Day always falls on the third Saturday in October. The first Sweetest Day took place around 1922 in Cleveland, where a worker at a local candy company had the idea of creating a new day celebrating loved ones and, of course, sell a little candy in the process.
Herbert Birch Kingston and friends began celebrating by distributing candy and gifts to orphans, shut-ins, the disabled and other groups that were often left out of holiday celebrations. Sweetest Day then got some early promotions help from movie stars. Ann Pennington gave boxes of candy to 2,200 Cleveland newspaper boys, and Theda Bara gave away 10,000 boxes of candy to patients in hospitals in Cleveland and to people who came to see her films at a Cleveland theater.
Within 10 years, the day had become so popular that Cleveland officially set the same Saturday in October every year as Sweetest Day. In the following years, the idea of Sweetest Day has spread though the Midwest and is largely considered a second Valentine’s Day, although the holiday is not mean to focus exclusively on romantic love. Cleveland is still the most popular place to celebrate Sweetest Day, but nearby states and bigger cities have also taken to celebrating the day every year.