BlogCl–*cough* Sol’s Tenth Epic Chinchilla Tavern

It’s not actually just a Canadian thing, though it is true that it’s especially popular in Canada because the author John McCrae was a Canadian! McCrae’s poem is one of the most well-known works from/about the first world war. It was actually an American professor (Moina Michael) who jumpstarted the idea of using poppies as a symbol of remembrance and she got the idea from In Flanders Fields. The idea was supported by the American Legion during the 1920 Cleveland Convention, where Madame Guérin from France saw it. Guérin was the original person to use remembrance poppies to raise funds in France for veterans and others affected by the casualties of the war. Part of her fundraising happened in London around Armistice Day, where it got noticed by the Royal British Legion. The practice of creating, wearing, and selling artificial remembrance poppies to raise funds for veterans then very quickly spread throughout the Commonwealth and has since remained a popular practice. There’s your history lesson for the day 🙂