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The origins of the Labor Festival date back to 1817. Interestingly, it was articulated by the owner of a British factory, Robert Owen, and included the needs of the working class. One of its main objectives was to reduce working hours from the previous 10-14 hours to eight. In the decades that followed, thanks to numerous strikes and movements, the working hours of women and children in Britain were maximized to ten hours per day in 1847, but many more demands were demanded during the 19th century.
Finally, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, eight-hour work hours were gradually introduced, and in 1891, II. The International has officially declared this day a celebration of the international unity of the working class. The first demonstration took place in Hungary in 1890, and since 1946 it has been an international holiday on May 1, and after the regime change it has become a day of solidarity for workers, a holiday.
May 1st in the Kádár era
In the Kádár era, this day was especially important at home. It was treated as a special holiday, since in the ideology of communism the worker, the working people played a central role and work was compulsory. In the countryside and in Budapest, crowds flocked to the streets, parades were held across the country, and people walked the city with banners, flags, and signs. Attendance at ceremonies was mandatory, and various factories, companies, plants, and offices had to appear in groups. They were expected to present the most spectacular and special ideas for the parades, and overall, economic development and new industrial products were somehow showcased alongside the leaders, the boards glorifying the system, and photos of them.
As children symbolized social development, progress, they also had to show themselves. Schoolchildren, pioneers, carried flags, greeting inscriptions, and images of political leaders in beautiful uniforms. Of course, János Kádár himself was not left out of the ceremony: he was waving from an ornamental rostrum in the capital, but it has also happened over the years that he has walked along the crowd that formed the wall of the row; this was generally broadcast on television.
However, the first of May also included entertainment and characteristic delicacies: mayonnaise, sausages, cotton candy, fried sausages or even sausages. After the mandatory parades, people relaxed, had fun, enjoyed various shows, and outdoor food and drinks. In images that evoke the past, we show what the celebration of work was like in the years of the Kádár era.
Cover photos: Fortepan / sitakri, Fortepan / Hungarian Police.
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