Happy Labor Day, Houston

Good morning, Houston, and a happy Labor Day. We're abandoning our usual posting schedule today in favor of all-American grilled foods and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. We'll be back with our regular schedule tomorrow, but first, how about some Labor Day trivia?

• Labor Day began in the 1880s as annual street parades to show "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations." In the early days, there was a movement to observe the holiday on May 1 as a reminder of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago and other actions that led to the adoption of an eight-hour workday — but President Grover Cleveland worried that commemorating the riots might bolster the Socialist movement, so he supported Labor Day on the first Monday in September (even though most of the world still goes with the May 1 date).
• New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado and Oregon were the first states to make Labor Day an official holiday, in 1887. A few years later, in 1894, Congress followed suit and named it a national holiday.
• Though most Americans now look at Labor Day as one last chance to (legitimately) get off work before the fall begins, the holiday really is still a way to honor America's working men and women. According to the Census Bureau, there were 152.8 million of them in May 2007: 82.1 million men and 70.7 million women. Their average salaries? $41,386 for men and $31,858 for women.
• Speaking of labor unions, there are 15.4 million union members nationwide. About 12 percent of American workers belong to a union.
• And the most important thing: After today, can you or can't you wear white without becoming a social outcast? It's long been held that you should put your summer whites away for the winter, but fashionistas say color has no season, which makes us wonder: Is white really a color? And shouldn't there be a law banning white loafers year-round?

---
Photo: flickr user Malingering