Mother's Day cashes in

Mother's Day is only three days away. Time to celebrate the most important woman in your life.

Her holiday, during its near century of evolution, has become one of the busiest holidays of the year, at least from one store owner's perspective.

"We're selling tons of cards," said Melodee Rea, owner of Friendship Hallmark in Long Beach. "People are buying pretty boxes, stuffed animals and picture frames."

"Mother's Day is the second highest [amount] that people spend, after Valentine's Day," Rea said, adding that people typically spend between $20 and $40 for Mother's Day. 

The day did not start, however, with such commercial implications.

The holiday was first celebrated May 10, 1908, by Anna M. Jarvis, a teacher in West Virginia.

Her mother, Anna Reese Jarvis, a Sunday school teacher, died on May 9, 1905. The holiday was then created because she felt that too many adults neglected their mothers.

Three years after her mother's death, Anna M. Jarvis asked her church to hold a special service honoring her mother.

She gave away carnations, her mother's favorite flower, to everyone who attended the service.

Over time, carnations have become associated with the holiday. The red flowers symbolize a mother still living, while a white flower is worn for mothers that have died.

The governor of West Virginia proclaimed the first Mother's Day in 1910. Soon after, other states began celebrating the holiday.

On May 7, 1914, Mother's Day was introduced into Congress as a national holiday. Two days later, President Woodrow Wilson announced that the holiday was "a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."