Sweetest Day

What the day is

Sweetest Day is observed on the third Saturday in October. It is strongly regional: it is kept across much of the Midwest and in parts of the Northeast, and is largely unknown elsewhere in the United States.

In practice it functions as a second, smaller Valentine's Day, with cards, candy and flowers, though its stated intention was broader than romance.

Origin and background

It began in Cleveland in the early 1920s. The usual account credits a committee of local confectioners who distributed sweets to orphans, elderly residents and others who might otherwise be overlooked, and the original framing was charitable rather than romantic.

The criticism arrived early and has never gone away: that a holiday organized by candy makers to encourage candy buying is a commercial invention wearing a sentimental coat. That charge is fair as far as it goes, though it applies to a surprising number of observances, and the charitable origin appears to have been genuine.

What kept it alive in Cleveland and its surrounding states, rather than nationally, is an interesting question with no tidy answer. Regional retail promotion sustained it, and it never acquired the national media presence that would have carried it further.

Its drift toward romance has made it awkward for some people, since a second couples holiday four months after the first is not universally welcome. The original version, aimed at people who receive little attention, is the better one.

How to take part

• Use the original framing. Send something to someone who will not be expecting it rather than to a partner who will.
• Visit or call someone isolated. That was the founding intention and it still holds up.
• Buy from a local confectioner rather than a chain, which at least keeps the money where the day started.
• If you are outside the Midwest, expect blank looks. This is a genuinely regional holiday.
• Skip the obligation framing entirely. A holiday nobody has heard of makes a poor stick to beat a partner with.