You’re Welcome Giving Day is a holiday that’s observed every year on the day following Thanksgiving. The purpose of this holiday is to remind everyone that they should remember to say “You’re Welcome” to people after they tell you “thank you.”

That’s all there is to this holiday, just returning a nice gesture to someone after they have thanked you. Of course, people shouldn’t need a holiday to extend this courtesy to their fellow humans, but since there is a holiday for it, we suppose they do. Regardless, this is the perfect day for people to practice their manners with friends, family members, and strangers.

The History of You’re Welcome Giving Day

This holiday was created in 1977 by Richard Ankli of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He created this holiday not because it was a noble thing to do but because he wanted to get more people to spread the word about being gracious.

No, he invented the holiday to create a four-day weekend. Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, this holiday falls on a Friday, and then there’s the weekend. If you ask me, that sounds pretty smart. Maybe everyone needs to tell Richard thank you.

The Brief History of You’re Welcome

Okay, since we’re on the subject of using the term “you’re welcome” for this holiday, we thought that we’d dig deeper into its history. We wondered where this phrase came from and who first started using it, so we rolled up our sleeves and did a little bit of research. This is what we found out about the subject.

The word “welcome” comes from the Old English word “wilcuma,” a word that combined the word for pleasure with the word for guest. It was a word that was used to express openness to visitors.

During the early 17th century, the word “welcome” began to be used as a response to “thank you.” Early evidence of this can be found in William Shakespeare’s Othello, where the word is used in such a way. From that moment on, “you’re welcome” has been used as a response to “thank you.”

Observing You’re Welcome Giving Day

On this day, people are encouraged to tell people “You’re Welcome” whenever someone thanks them. However, judging from the intent of the holiday’s creator, it also appears that people are encouraged to take the day off work.

Of course, this may be impossible for some retail workers because this day also happens to be Black Friday — one of the busiest shopping days of the entire year. It sounds like a lot of people are going to have to say “thank you” and “you’re welcome” on this day. Let’s remind everyone to do just that by using the hashtag #YoureWelcomeDay on social media.