Let’s Holla for a Dollar, folks, today is
NATIONAL DOLLAR DAY!
Yes, it’s all about the Benjamins today.
No, we’re not celebrating wealth, the worship of the Almighty Dollar, or the price of eggs. Today marks the 237th Anniversary of the creation of America’s own monetary system on August 8, 1786 by the Continental Congress.
America was 3 years removed from winning our War of Independence from its mother country and, like any child leaving the nest, had to forge its own identity and earn its own way.
So, along with a unanimous resolution to drop our silly British accents except for the pop star and actor exception, the Continental Congress created the Dollar as our unit of currency, and broke it down it into easily divisible Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, etc.
This was another revolution in itself after dealing with the confusing Pounds, Crowns, Shillings, Guineas, Bob, Coppers, Farthings and Ha’Pence of the English monetary system, and the sheer size of the British bills, the size of looseleaf pages.
We made ours smaller and easier to figure out, so now we didn’t need the top hats to hold our money anymore, so the dollar had an immediate impact on American fashion. Before you knew it, our presidents ditched the powdered wigs, pantaloons and musical theater costumes too. That gave them more time to make pronouncements like “money doesn’t grow on trees,” while we print our money on paper made from trees. Happy Dollar Day.
•Suggested activities: Liar’s Poker