Internationally, Mothers Day observances had been in existence for some time. Mothering Sunday, celebrated in the UK and Ireland, is the forth Sunday of Lent and was traditionally the time that Catholics traveled to their Mother Church or regional cathedral for mass. After the Reformation, it became a day for children to visit their parents.

Other days in other countries were also in existence to commemorate and celebrate mothers.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, sometimes referred to as the founder of Mothers Day, began a series of anti war observances. Ward Howes Mothers Day was less of a holiday to celebrate motherhood than it was as a call for pacifism and disarmament by women. Early Mothers Day celebrations centered around mothers who had lost sons in the Civil War.

The holiday continued in a handful of cities, mainly Boston under the patronage of Julia Ward Howe, but Mothers Day as we know it today, centered on the receipt of a Mothers Day card, did not truly begin until 1877, although again, no Mothers Day cards were involved. Albion, Michigan resident Juliet Calhoun Blakely took it upon herself to complete the Rev Myron Daughterty, who was upset because of the actions of a local anti temperance group that had forced his son, a temperance advocate to spend the night in a saloon. Blakely called on the support of other mothers from the congregation on behalf of the Reverends son.

In 1907, Mothers Day received national attention when Anna Marie Jarvis held a small celebration on May 9th in Grafton, West Virginia to commemorate the anniversary of her mothers death two years before. Her mother, Maria Reeves Jarvis had been an active Mothers day campaign organizer. As this custom slowly gained popularity throughout the state, Clothing merchant John Wanamker financed the campaign to spread this custom, which had shifted its focus from reform movements and pacifism to an appreciation of mothers in general. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation officially declaring the second Sunday in May as Mothers Day. Today, Mothers Day presents, and the Mothers Day card are important traditions for most families, who see this day as a way to recognize and appreciate their mothers.