May Day is a festival marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on the 1st of May.
Traditions often included gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, creating colorful crowns, or setting up a Maypole for people to sing and dance around.
The childhood game of knocking on a door and running away, also known as “ding dong ditch,” “Nicky nicky nine doors,” “knock, knock, ginger,” or “knock and run,” involves knocking on the front door (or ringing the doorbell) of someone’s home, then running away before the door can be answered.
This tradition has been changed over the years to hanging May Day flowers on the door knob, knocking, then running to hide (watching to see that someone would smile at the gift of flowers).
Cute postcard from the Museum’s collection.
Reminder: FREE Saturday – May 3, 2025