Labor Day Holiday Collectibles

The first Labor Day souvenir is in the Library of Congress. The item is a hatband worn in a parade organized by the Brotherly Union Society held in Philadelphia in the 1820s. Historians date the first Labor Day parade to Tuesday, September 5, 1882. This event it was held in New York City and was organized by the Central Union of Laborers of the City of New York. There are no known memories of the parade.

Tea first day of work collectible is attributed to the parade in NYC although the article was produced a week after the parade. It was printed in Illustrated by Frank Leslie on September 16, 1882.

Labor Day became an official holiday throughout the United States in 1894 when Congress passed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday. When it was declared an official holiday, the production of decorative elements used in the celebrations flourished.

19th century collectibles

Parades and picnic celebrations were in full swing during this time. Decorative items, including celluloid pins of various colors, produced by the Whitehead Hoag Company, Newark, NJ (1880-1955), were favorites. Other tapes were designed to be used on jacket labels or attached to a shirt. Slogans such as “Unity is Strength,” the American flag, eagles and even an image of a handshake to signify unity adorned the red, white and blue ribbons.

20th century collectibles

The early part of this century continued to find multicolored ribbons a popular item for celebrations. During this same time, the Nash Publishing Company produced a set of two illustrated Labor Day souvenir postcards. Some of the most collectible postcards were published by John O. Winsch of New York between the years 1911 and 1915. Winsch used rich, heavy inks and embossing on his cards, and sent them to Germany for printing. During World War I, the slogans and images became more patriotic. A tape dated 1918 included the words “We are after the man behind the gun.” The Baltimore, Maryland Congress of Industrial Unions produced a multi-page pamphlet celebrating the American military and labor troops of 1945.

Four Labor Day postcards were produced in 1907 by Lounsbury Publishing, Series 2046, consisting of four cards: Uncle Sam pulling back an American flag to proudly display a factory, a worker with a lunch box, a family at a picnic for the holidays and Labor leader Santa Claus, George Washington, Uncle Sam, New Year’s baby and a Thanksgiving turkey in the parade.

In 1900, the Kodak Camera Company successfully developed and marketed a camera that allowed a person to take a photograph and process it onto postcard paper. It became common for photographers to photograph family, town and company celebrations and then sell the photographic postcards as souvenirs. Many of these postcards survive today.

The United States Post Office issued a Labor Day commemorative stamp in 1954.

A unique collectible is the postcard published by the Freemasons. Known as Masonic Labor Day, it features a man who sits surveying the industrial power of the country.

Determination of value

• Condition
• Maker
• Number of articles manufactured/Quality of the article
• Connected to a historical event or celebration

Postcard prices can range from $35 to $360. American dollar