Talk:Public holidays of the United States

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Contents 1 Christmas? 2 Removed Christmas section. 3 Easter 4 Federal Hodliday != day off 5 4:20 6 Super Bowl Sunday 7 Inauguration Day 8 PATRIOT'S DAY?? 9 Summer - traditionally considered? 10 Nothing on Bodhi Day in December?

[edit] Christmas?

Is Christmas really a national/federally mandated holiday in the United States of America? -- Tjdw 14:58, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

• It is. Christmas in the US is largely secular today, and is celebrated by many non-christians. I suspect that it was designated a national holiday in order to give federal employees a day off. Scott Burley 01:42, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

The rationale for making Christmas a federal holiday is that, because so many people would ordinarily take that day off anyway, it is simpler and cheaper to simply give non-essential personnel the day off. 18.26.0.18 00:45, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Christmas section.

I removed the Christmas section as it was conveying false info. The article claime that it was a largely Non Secular holiday in the U.S (Which it isn't, it just so happens that Christianity is the dominent Religion in America) and that it was far removed from it's origional meaning (which is POV) I skimed over the rest of the section and it seemed to be more about Christmas Traditions thn it's impact on American Culture (IE: the U.S isn't the only country to have christmas trees) which would be far better suited for an article on Christmas as opposed to in this article. Deathawk 16:39, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Easter

Not generally observed by most businesses

Er, well, it's always on a Sunday, and I think that most businesses that are generally open on Sundays are generally closed, or at least have reduced hours. Easter is a much bigger deal for most Americans than this article would seem to suggest. 70.20.212.73 06:27, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Federal Hodliday != day off

May be one could state that a federal holiday doesn't mean that you don't have to work. A list of days where people don't have to work due to public holiday would be nice.

There would be no way to list that, since private employers are not required to close on any days. Some may choose to close on most or all federal holidays, some may choose to remain open. Most professional jobs are closed New Years, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, which are often called the "big six" holidays. Some might also close on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Some might add some of the other federal holidays, most commonly Martin Luther King Day, or Presidents Day. If a fixed date holiday falls on a Sunday, most private businesses close on the following Monday, but many do not. If a fixed date holiday falls on a Saturday, some private businesses close on the Friday before the holiday, but for some reason, that is less common. A few observe the holiday on Monday rather than Friday. But many businesses do not observe the holiday at all. That can become a real pain, since Christmas and New Years, 2 of the biggest holidays, always fall on the same day of the week of each other, so if you get cheated out of one holiday, you get cheated out of both that year. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.184.64.197 (talk) 03:01, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 4:20

4:20 is not a holiday by any stretch of the imagination. I'd delete it, but I have no idea how the charts work, and don't want to screw anything up. JamesBenjamin 20:32, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

And I just figured out how the charts work, and removed it myself.JamesBenjamin 20:34, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Super Bowl Sunday

I have removed a duplicate entry from the "Other holidays observed nationwide" chart, since the observance of "Super Bowl Sunday" is already located in the "Non-holiday notable days" section.

[edit] Inauguration Day

Aside from the vice-president, what other "elected officials" are sworn in on Inauguration Day? Congress convenes and is sworn in ~two weeks earlier. Isaacsf 03:52, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

After 9+ months with no comment, I've gone ahead and made the edit to include only Pres and VP being sworn in on Inauguration Day. Isaacsf (talk) 20:45, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] PATRIOT'S DAY??

Michael5419 12:41, 19 April 2007 (UTC)I know the flag should be lowered on Patriot(')s Day, but when is it? Sept. 11 or the third Monday in April? I have seen conflicting statements and don't even see it listed as a federal holiday. If it is a state holiday, why is the US flag to be lowered that day? I am confused, but the company I work for is owned by an offshore company and they are insistant that the US traditions, especially the patriotic days, be observed by our company,including flag etiquite. Knowing when Patriot's day really is will be helpful!

Michael5419

Patriots Day and Patriot Day are 2 different holidays.

Patriots Day is the 3rd Monday in April, and is observed only in Massachusetts, and maybe a few other states. It commemorates the begining of the American Revolution, and is also the day that the Boston Marathon is held. It is not a federal holiday, only a state holiday.

Patriot Day is Sept. 11, commemorating the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, on Sept. 11, 2001. It is not a legal holiday, but just a commemoration.

I'm guessing that Patriot Day (Sept. 11) would be the one where you'd fly the flag at half staff, since it is a sad commemoration.

[edit] Summer - traditionally considered?

In the fourth paragraph, it says "Summer is traditionally considered to run from Memorial Day to Labor Day." I'd like to say "Summer is informally considered..." because traditionally (in my opinion), Wikipedically and astronomically, summer starts on the summer solstice and ends on the autumnal equinox. Plus, in checking the Memorial Day article, I found out that holiday only goes back to 1866, and summer goes back much farther than that. If nobody objects, I'll make the change. DBlomgren 15:43, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree that "tradition" isn't the right word. An alternative might be "colloquially" or something along those lines? Isaacsf 02:10, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I removed it because summer is a season, not a holiday. DBlomgren 20:55, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nothing on Bodhi Day in December?

I see nothing on Bodhi Day in December for one of the fastest growing religious groups in teh U.S.

http://www.budtempchi.org/bodhiwriteup.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.21.245 (talk) 13:22, 21 October 2007 (UTC)