Do we really understand the origin of Labor Day? The advertisements think it is the day we should all buy a new mattress. (Every federal holiday seems to be the time to buy a new mattress.) Nor is it "the end of summer" or "the beginning of school."
Labor Day became a U.S. federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the legislation making the first Monday in September a legal national holiday following the turbulent Pullman Strike.