# So you don't have poppies in America - do you have something else instead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870 "2004-11-15T15:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/21 "2004-11-16T04:10:29Z")
At the factory where I retired, ladies from the War Mothers would hand out poppies (plastic) every Memorial Day, and the Marine Corps veterans would hand ‘em out (paper) at Veterans’ Day. “In Flanders Fields” was in our lit books in (about) seventh grade. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/22 "2004-11-16T06:36:33Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Do you have an equivelent in America (or where ever you are?) If so - What? In France, there’s an equivalent. The blue [cornflower](http://www.chez.com/euronature/galleries/fleurs/indexfleurs.html) (this is the real flower. I couldn’t find a picture of the “fake” one sold). But they’re rarely if ever sold or worn anymore, except during the ceremonies themselves to the people who attend them. I don’t remember noticing them being sold in the streets since I left the rural area where I was brought up. The product of the sales goes to war veterans associations and charities. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/23 "2004-11-16T06:38:38Z")
I can’t link to the picture directly, apparently. The flower is the “bleuet”, in the middle of the bottom row. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/24 "2004-11-16T06:43:54Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > There are now only 19 british servicemen left who fought in WWI and only a single German. > > THis makes me feel very old - when I was a lad they were all over the place. Same here. My home town had a 100th aniverary parade while I was there one summer vacation from the U of Iowa in the late 40’s. Down the street came these old men and I thought to myself, “Here come the Spanish-American war vets.” They were the WWI vets who I remembered as a lot younger. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/25 "2004-11-16T06:50:03Z")
A bleuet is a cornflower - how about that? In Quebec, that’s the word for blueberry. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/26 "2004-11-16T06:56:35Z")
I can remember getting poppies from the VFW about 10 years ago while growing up in Mass. I don’t remember whether I got them through school or through the Boy Scouts, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/27 "2004-11-16T07:16:29Z")
You can find VFW poppies being sold for Veterans day where I live, and I’m in a heavily liberal part of California. For what that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/28 "2004-11-16T07:26:51Z")
In NZ and Australia, red poppies are worn on ANZAC day, April 25, which commemorates the ANZAC {Australia and New Zealand Army Corps} landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 - the campaign, against the Turks, was a disaster, and was marked by heavy casualties on all sides. ANZAC day has grown to commerorate military veterans of all wars, and the day is marked by dawn services throughout the country: the wearing of red poppies then is extremely common. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/29 "2004-11-16T11:15:13Z")
The poppy and the poem are featured on the back of the Canadian [$10 bill](http://www.cdnpapermoney.com/English/BoC/all_Journey_b.htm) (second from the top in the link). ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/30 "2004-11-16T12:27:18Z")
> [@Middlecase](#): > > In NZ and Australia, red poppies are worn on ANZAC day, April 25, which commemorates the ANZAC {Australia and New Zealand Army Corps} landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 - the campaign, against the Turks, was a disaster, and was marked by heavy casualties on all sides. ANZAC day has grown to commerorate military veterans of all wars, and the day is marked by dawn services throughout the country: the wearing of red poppies then is extremely common. The Anzac Day poppies are worn again on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, here. For the memorial services around 11 am, and the moment’s silence. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870/31 "2004-11-16T13:19:26Z")
Poppies have been sold on Memorial Day and Veterans Day every place I’ve ever lived (in the US). I was raised in San Diego, and have lived in Rhode Island and Virginia. My grandfather was a WWI veteran and a member of the VFW. When my mom was a girl she went with him on Veterans Day to sell poppies. So I always buy one. I wear it during that day (usually attached to my purse strap), then transfer it to the rearview mirror of my car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-dont-have-poppies-in-america-do-you-have-something-else-instead/274870.md?page=1)