EXIT Realty JP Rothermel Blog

1. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. This is because soldiers used to decorate the graves of their fallen comrades with flags or flowers.

2. This holiday was created after the Civil War ended in 1865. So many soldiers lost their lives, it was necessary to create national cemeteries. Once these were created, Americans started holding rituals each spring for the fallen by decorating their graves.

3. Memorial Day is always at the end of May because by this time all the flowers ar...

Pope Gregory merged the holiday of celebrating Jesus Christ’s resurrection with the pagan spring festival while keeping the pagan symbols. These symbols include the rabbits and eggs as they symbolized rebirth. Many believe Christians named Easter was named after Eostre, a pagan goddess of fertility. They did this to improve the chances of people converting from pagans to Christians.. Easter egg dye used to be made naturally out of onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and juices. Dying Easter...

The holiday of pranksters goes back centuries. In the 16^th century, Pope Gregory XIII changed the standardized calendar from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar (the one we still use today). The Gregorian Calendar added more days to the year, so this effectively made the new year celebration on Jan 1^st instead of at the end of March.

In the 16th century, news spread very slowly compared to what we are used to, so not everyone was aware of the change. And people would see others celebra...

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17th which is the anniversary of his death in the 5th century. Saint Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to the people of Ireland after he escaped slavery. The Irish believed the shamrock (three leaf clover) was a sacred plant which symbolized that spring was coming. The first reported celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in America actually happened before the American Revolution. In a Spanish colony, where St. Augustine Florida is locat...

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching! Here’s a list of fun facts about the holiday of love.

Conversation hearts were supposed to be medical lozenges. In the 1800s, pharmacist Oliver Chase from Boston invented a machine to make the lozenge production process easier. He ended up making the first candy making machine. Chase then went into the candy business and developed Necco wafers. People also give their pets Valentine’s Day gifts. As of 2021, people spend $1.7 billion for their pets for the...

It can come off as a total mystery as to why the world looks to a groundhog to see if spring is around the corner. If the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his little burrow and sees his shadow and rushes back to his home we’ll have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, spring is coming early.

1. Like most modern traditions, it has roots with an old Christian holiday.

February 2nd was known as Candlemas, a clergy would distribute candles for winter, and these candles rep...

Celebrating the New Year in Times Square has been a tradition since The New York Times opened a new headquarters in 1903. It was this commemorative celebration that kickstarted the annual celebrations on New Year’s Eve. They launched fireworks each year. But after New York Times owner Adolph Ochs successfully lobbied to have what was then known as “Longacre Square” changed to “Times Square”, he wanted an even bigger spectacle.

In 1907, an electrician was hired to build a lit ball to be lowered d...