The official Mother’s Day holiday – which takes place on Sunday, May 12 – arose as a result of the efforts of an American woman Anna Jarvis who, following her mother’s death in 1905, conceived of the day as a way of honouring the sacrifices mothers make for their children.
After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, Jarvis organised the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a church in West Virginia. That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia.
As a result of the success of these events, Jarvis, who remained unmarried and childless her whole life, resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. Arguing that many holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a national letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honouring motherhood.
By 1912 many US states, cities and towns had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day continues to be celebrated worldwide and in most countries, the occasion is marked by presenting mothers with gifts and giving them a day off from cooking and other household chores.
One of the most popular gifts given to Moms the world over to mark her special day are chocolates! Not just any old box of mass produced assorted chocolates but luxury, handcrafted chocolates like those produced by Shautany Chocolates.
Shautany’s extensive range means there’s a chocolate for every mom’s taste! Chocolate truffles and ganaches, luxury bars in various flavours, a variety of chocolate coated nuts, including macadamia, pecan, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts and almonds as well as the perennial favourite – Maraschino cherries coated in dark chocolate. For those mothers who may be watching their waistlines, there is also an extensive ‘No Added Sugar’ collection.
Says founder Mary-Anne Price: “Our products are all handmade with only the finest natural preservative-free ingredients. We use Callebaut chocolate imported from Belgium, with all the other ingredients sourced locally from various artisans throughout South Africa.”
While their range of products are handmade in a factory in White River, Shautany Chocolates also has six retail outlets: Casterbridge Centre, White River; Perry’s Bridge Centre, Hazyview; Louis Trichardt Rd, Graskop (next to Harrie’s Pancakes); Brookielace Barn, Naledi Drive in Dullstroom; Old Nick Village, Plettenberg Bay and at the Rhapsody Centre in St. Francis Bay.
Shautany Chocolates can also be purchased online via www.shautany.co.za
