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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
A2 · Elementary
NewGlobal · Culture & Everyday Life

How We Got the Weekend

Created by dabai laoshi

Key Vocabulary

factory

a building where machines and workers make goods

Factory owners wanted workers to come back on Monday.

Sabbath

a weekly holy day for rest and worship

The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday.

bargain

an agreement in which each side gives something to get something

The Saturday half-day was a bargain between owners and workers.

wage

the money a person earns for work

Ford paid the same wage for five days as for six.

shared

used or enjoyed by people together, not alone

A shared weekend lets families rest on the same days.

Article

It is Saturday morning, and there is no work or school. The day feels normal in many homes. But the weekend is not an old law of nature. It is a new idea, and people had to invent it.

Even the word weekend is still young. In 1879, an English magazine had to explain "week-end." It meant leaving work on Saturday afternoon. People spent that night and 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 Christian countries, that day was often Sunday. One special day is not two free days together. [1]

Factory weeks in Britain were long and hard. Some workers had Sunday free, then stayed home on Monday too. People called this extra Monday Saint Monday. Factory owners did not like empty machines. They made a bargain with the workers. They gave Saturday morning free if workers came back on Monday. [1][2]

Two full free days came later. In 1908, a New England factory gave Saturday and Sunday free. Jewish workers could keep the Sabbath that way. In 1926, Henry Ford closed his car factories for both days. He still paid a full wage for the week. He said people needed time away from work. [2][3]

One country tried to end a shared weekend. In 1929, the Soviet Union put workers on different free days. Factories never closed under that plan. A parent might be free on Tuesday while the family worked. People hated having those free days alone. The plan failed, and the old seven-day week returned in 1940. [4]

The next time Saturday feels like a right, remember it is new. In some places the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Two free days feel natural now. History shows they were a bargain and a choice.

Discussion Questions

  1. What do you usually do on the weekend, and which day feels more free to you?
  2. In your country, which days are the weekend? Has that ever changed?
  3. Would you rather have two days off together, or different days from your family? Why?
  4. Which part of the weekend's history surprised you most?
  5. If your city moved the weekend to different days, how would your life change?

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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