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Friends sitting on the grass by a tent on a sunny day, talking and relaxing outdoors. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels. Image source
A1 · Beginner
NewGlobal · Culture & Everyday Life

How We Got the Weekend

Created by dabai laoshi · 28 Aug 2026

Key Vocabulary

weekend

the free days at the end of the week, often Saturday and Sunday

Many people stay home on the weekend.

extra

one more day than people already had

Saint Monday was an extra free day.

empty

with no workers inside

Factory owners did not like empty machines.

bargain

a plan where each side gives something

The Saturday free morning was a bargain.

factory

a building where people make things with machines

Factory owners wanted workers to come back on Monday.

Article

It is Saturday. There is no work and no school. But the weekend is not old. People had to make it.

In 1879, an English paper had to say what week-end means. It meant leaving work on Saturday afternoon. People spent Sunday with friends. That first weekend was only a day and a half. [1]

For a long time, many workers had only one free day. In many cities, that day was Sunday. [1]

Some workers had Sunday free. Then they stayed home on Monday too. People called this extra Monday Saint Monday. Factory owners did not like empty machines. They made a bargain. Workers got Saturday morning free. [1][2]

Two full free days came later. In 1908, a factory in New England gave Saturday and Sunday free. Jewish workers could keep the Sabbath that way. In 1926, Henry Ford closed his car factories for both days. [2][3]

One city tried to end a shared weekend. In 1929, workers got different free days. A parent might be free on Tuesday. The family still worked. People did not like free days alone. The plan did not work. [4]

Saturday feels new. In some cities the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Two free days feel like other days now.

Discussion Questions

  1. What do you do on the weekend?
  2. Where you live, which days are the weekend?
  3. Do you like two free days together?
  4. What in the weekend story is new for you?
  5. Would you like the same free days as your family? Why?

References

  1. Witold Rybczynski, "Waiting for the Weekend," The Atlantic, August 1991, on the word weekend, Saint Monday, and the Saturday half-holiday. Source
  2. Philip Sopher, "Where the Five-Day Workweek Came From," The Atlantic, 2014, on the 1879 definition of weekend and the 1908 New England mill. Source
  3. Dave Roos, "The 5-Day Work Week: How We Got Here," History.com, on Ford's 1926 five-day week and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Source
  4. Natasha Frost, "For 11 Years, the Soviet Union Had No Weekends," History.com, on the continuous work week of 1929–1940. Source

Finished reading? Mark this lesson as done.

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