# Do some parts of the USA have their own separate holidays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366 "2005-10-15T16:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/21 "2005-10-16T00:54:49Z")
I grew up getting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off for Mardi Gras. This was in Mississippi, about an hour northeast of New Orleans. (In New Orleans itself, schools were, I believe, let out the whole week.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/22 "2005-10-16T01:09:44Z")
Rhode Island celebrates VJ-day (Victory of Japan Day). **Polycarp** ’s list calls it just Victory Day, but I’ve never heard anyone call it anything but VJ-day. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/23 "2005-10-16T01:10:45Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Rhode Island celebrates VJ-day (Victory of Japan Day). **Polycarp** ’s list calls it just Victory Day, but I’ve never heard anyone call it anything but VJ-day. Gahhh. Victory over Japan day. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/24 "2005-10-16T01:27:45Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > There’s a certain list of Federal holidays, legislated by Congress and honored as holidays across the entire country. Each state (and our one commonwealth, Puerto Rico) has the right of adding holidays to that list for their own state, and many if not all do. Here’s a list from [InformationPlease.com](http://InformationPlease.com): > > ``` > * Jan. 6, Three Kings' Day: P.R. > * Jan. 8, Battle of New Orleans Day: La. > * Jan. 11, De Hostos's Birthday: P.R. > > ``` > > … Thank you, **Polycarp** , I will be revealing that list to my boss very soon and be requesting _a few_ days off to celebrate the rich and varied heritage of my nation. You see, I don’t consider myself a Coloradoan so much as an American, and I hardly feel that it’s appropriate to continue on with my trite daily routine without regard for the important mile-stones of various segments of my proud nation. If anyone needs me, I’ll be sitting around my smoked salmon sampler and making cold calls through the Anchorage phone book come October 18th to celebrate Alaska day. Oh, and so don’t bother calling, either, seeing how I’ll be busy phoning Anchorage, perhaps Fairbanks if time permits. Regards, **threemae** ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/25 "2005-10-16T01:41:15Z")
**BluePitBull** , where are you writing from? Canada, England, China? ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/26 "2005-10-16T03:24:29Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > Patriot’s Day still throws me, and I have lived in Mass. for 18 years now. (A holiday for a football team? Even when they used to suck?) Um. . . You shouldn’t have to live in Massachusetts to know that the American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, when the British regulars marched from Boston into the nearby towns of Lexington and Concord. This was the night of Paul Revere’s ride. This was the day of “the shot heard 'round the world.” That’s what Patriot’s Day is about. And Maine celebrates it because Maine was part of Massachusetts originally. History lesson for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/27 "2005-10-16T03:31:46Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > She said that if she did NOT take those days, it would be insulting to other Jews who were actually observing the day. 😕 “Insulting” I don’t know about, but I do know that I got a certain amount of shit for working on Yom Kippur this year. Even though I’m not observant. It was considered unseemly, somehow. Fortunately, I had a semi-true excuse: Somebody needed to be there, so I worked so my more observant coworkers could go to shul. Every year, my mom refuses to go out of the house on the high holy days. She doesn’t observe in any way, but Og forbid someone should see her doing something secular. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/28 "2005-10-16T03:42:01Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > Um. . . You shouldn’t have to live in Massachusetts to know that the American Revolution began on April 19, 1775… This was the night of Paul Revere’s ride. … Well, Paul Revere’s ride was the previous night, _alerting_ the Minutemen to the movements of the Redcoats. > [@H.W. Longfellow](#): > > 'Twas the eighteenth of April, seventy-five. > Scarcely a man is still alive > Who remembers that famous day and year. That was six days after my wife’s and my wedding (and 200 years before), so the date sticks in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/29 "2005-10-16T08:11:59Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > She doesn’t observe in any way, but Og forbid someone should see her doing something secular. Why “Og”? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/30 "2005-10-16T08:22:54Z")
We used to get Fast Day off in NH, but not in the past decade+ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/31 "2005-10-16T10:53:13Z")
Growing up in the Deep South, we never heard of Jefferson Davis Day, but we never celebrated President’s Day, because of the Lincoln connection. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/32 "2005-10-16T12:01:42Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > **BluePitBull** , where are you writing from? Canada, England, China? Bahamas ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/33 "2005-10-16T12:40:12Z")
Did anyone notice what looked like a large # of holidays for P.R.? I didn’t count them and compare, but it really seems like they do have a very high share of the holidays. ---
**Author:** ![SomeGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SomeGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/34 "2005-10-16T13:01:55Z")
> [@MyNameIsEarl](#): > > Being brought up in Georgia, I always thought it was funny that the same state workers that would show up at protests over the state flag, bemoaning its “racist past” and decrying it as an “insult to African-Americans” nevertheless had no problem taking Confederate Memorial Day or Jefferson Davis’ Birthday as a holiday. What did you expect them to do? Insist on working these days? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/35 "2005-10-16T14:41:06Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Why “Og”? See **Dex** ’s thread on SDMB abbreviations and slanguage, in ATMB. Best short explanation of Og and his 1920s style Death Ray that I’ve seen yet. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/36 "2005-10-16T14:57:54Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Well, Paul Revere’s ride was the previous night, _alerting_ the Minutemen to the movements of the Redcoats. Well, yeah. But for somebody who thought the holiday might have something to do with the football team, I went easy. (Plus, since it’s the _Midnight_ ride. . .I was thinking Paul might have been done a bit of traveling into the 19th.) The 19th is the day of the big “Battle Road” reenactment every year. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/37 "2005-10-16T16:09:47Z")
Puerto Rico also celebrates Oct 12… but that is considered federal, right? Also, Good Friday is “celebrated” (meaning almost nothing is open) in Puerto Rico. At least, that’s how it was. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/38 "2005-10-16T16:31:02Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > Um. . . You shouldn’t have to live in Massachusetts to know that the American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, when the British regulars marched from Boston into the nearby towns of Lexington and Concord. This was the night of Paul Revere’s ride. This was the day of “the shot heard 'round the world.” > > That’s what Patriot’s Day is about. And Maine celebrates it because Maine was part of Massachusetts originally. > > History lesson for the day. Thanks, but I managed to pick all that up over the last 18 years. The football team bit was just a stupid joke my brother and I used to share when we both moved to this strange state from NY. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/39 "2005-10-16T17:41:36Z")
How many of the holidays does your average office worker type get off? I’ve never been clear about that. FWIW, here in Canada (specifically Saskatchewan) generally speaking there are not holidays that government offices are closed that other private sector offices are open. This is excepting one negotiated government employee “floating” holiday bookended around a statutory holiday, frequently Canada Day. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366/40 "2005-10-16T19:01:57Z")
Strictly speaking, there are no “national” holidays in the United States, only “federal” holidays, on which employees of the federal government get the day off. Holiday-designating is left to the states. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-parts-of-the-usa-have-their-own-separate-holidays/326366.md?page=3)