In Canada, where I grew up, it’s traditional to wear a poppy in the days leading up to November 11 (what the Canucks call Remembrance Day, the Yanks call Veteran’s Day, and everyone else, I think, calls Armistice Day - correct me if I’m wrong.) This is done as a symbol of the soldiers killed in the First World War, and I believe it springs directly from a poem by John McCrae.
My question is: is the wearing of poppies a tradition anywhere else in the world, or is it strictly a Canadian thing? I’ve never seen it done since I moved down to the States, and I was wondering if this practice was observed anywhere else.
Funny, MC, but I work with Americans who come up to Canada quite regularly, and absolutely without fail every November they will ask, “What are the red poppies for?” If it started in the USA, it sure doesn’t seem to have survived in the public consciousness.
It has been some years since I have noticed it being done, but it used to be common in St. Louis for some charity or other to sell artificial poppies on Veteran’s Day which people would then wear in their lapels.
But at some point it obviously died out. One of the reasons poppy-wearing didn’t take hold in the US is that it already had a pre-existing holiday to remember its war dead in the form of Decoration Day/Memorial Day. November 11 has always thus always had less prominence.
I grew up in SD and WY and I wear one every year. Around here, starting in late October, I always see either the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars selling (asking a donation for) poppies in the entrance ways of grocery stores, the mall, etc.
I must admit the number of people wearing a poppy seems to be declining every year…and, of course, those that wear them are getting older.
The use of poppies is dying out (as are most WWI vets) in the US. Part is due to the connection between poppies and heroin. The American Legion isn’t very comfortable when people think it’s a drug reference.
And remember, our involvement in World War I was followed by an intense period of isolationism; from a contemporary perspective it seems we almost wanted to forget it. We also suffered but a tiny fraction of the losses of other countries - about 116,000 of a total population of 100m, or .1%. Canada (& Newfoundland) lost some 69,000 out of a total population of approx. 8m - 8 times our losses, proportionately.
I, too have seen the American Legion/VFW passing out poppies for donations. However, as the enrollment of these organizations declines, I think the practice is dying out in the U.S.
The reason that we Brits wear poppies is that they were the only flower that would bloom on the battlefields of Flanders, and as such became the symbol of the war.
The fund that is now administered by the British Legion ( a veterans charity) used to be called the Haig Fund - which given Haig’s role in the conflict is a touch ironic.
And a small point - it’s no longer 11/11 that is commorated, rather the Sunday nearest to it is Rememberence Sunday, and there is a big parade of former (and current) service men in Whitehall, together with The Queen and other dignitaries centered around the Cenotaph.
