Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day weekend also symbolizes the end of summer.

In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages. They often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities or breaks.

Labor unions, first appeared in the late 18th century and began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay. Many of these events turned violent and several workers were killed. On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history. Many states passed legislation recognizing it, but Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when on May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives.

On June 26, the American Railroad Union, called for a boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. To break the Pullman strike, the federal government dispatched troops to Chicago, unleashing a wave of riots that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen workers.

In an attempt to repair ties with American workers, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law.

Labor Day is celebrated with parades, picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays and other public gatherings, but we have forgotten that there was a time when laborers were not treated well. This holidays should be in memory of all those who forged a path for justice.

Labor Day has arrived, which means retailers would very much like you to believe that absolutely everything you have ever wanted is suddenly a bargain. It isn’t. Some of these sales are genuinely excellent; others are merely ordinary prices wearing very enthusiastic red signs. The trick is knowing what is worth buying now, where the deepest discounts actually are and what should stay firmly in your shopping cart until later.

Fashion is surprisingly strong this Labor Day, particularly if you shop the sale racks rather than the shiny new Fall 2026 collections arriving just in time for Fashion Week. Bloomingdale’s is one of the standouts, with selected designer clothing, shoes and handbags marked down as much as 70%. Nordstrom has thousands of markdowns, including Free People, Paige, Spanx and Tory Burch, with some reductions reaching 80%. Macy’s is advertising savings up to roughly 60–65%, depending on the department.

For a less expensive wardrobe refresh, this is also a very good weekend for basics. Gap has knitwear, denim, outerwear and other pieces marked down as much as 50%, while J.Crew is offering an additional 40% off already-reduced sale merchandise. Banana Republic has selected wardrobe pieces discounted as much as 40%, and Levi’s has 30% off selected styles. Those are the places to look for denim, shirts, trousers and transitional pieces that will carry you into fall without paying full September prices.

Home is where Labor Day gets serious. Williams Sonoma has one of the most aggressive offers we’ve found, with its Warehouse Sale reaching 75% off and an additional 20% off clearance. Pottery Barn and West Elm have markdowns reaching 70%, while Crate & Barrel is offering discounts up to 60%. If you’ve been waiting to replace bedding, cookware, furniture or something substantial for the apartment, these are considerably more interesting than buying another sweater simply because it is 30% off.

Furniture shoppers should also look at Wayfair, where the Labor Day Clearance reaches 70% off rugs, furniture, storage and décor. Ashley has selected furniture up to 70% off, while CB2 is offering reductions up to 50% across furniture, mirrors, lighting, rugs and tabletop. The usual warning applies: never buy a sofa because the percentage looks impressive. Measure the room first. There is nothing chic about discovering your fabulous 70%-off sectional blocks the front door.

For appliances and home improvement, The Home Depot has more than 1,000 Labor Day sale items across appliances, tools, grills, outdoor equipment and patio furniture; some current individual discounts exceed 40%. Lowe’s is offering discounts reaching 50% across selected appliances, outdoor products, tools and home merchandise. This is exactly the kind of purchase Labor Day is good for: the refrigerator you actually need, not the air fryer that somehow becomes irresistible at 11:47 p.m. because it is $28 cheaper.

Mattresses are another genuine Labor Day buy. Saatva, Casper, Avocado, Bear and Mattress Firm all have significant promotions running. Casper’s discounts reach 35%, Bear’s 35%, Avocado’s 20%, while Mattress Firm is offering savings of up to $700 on selected mattresses and related products. Labor Day remains one of the few sale weekends when waiting to replace a mattress can actually pay.

Outdoor merchandise is another buy now. Patio furniture, grills and summer entertaining pieces need to disappear from stores before holiday merchandise takes over. The Home Depot has current patio and grill reductions exceeding 50% on selected products, and other home retailers are clearing outdoor collections as well. Buy the patio set in September and enjoy feeling terribly clever when you pull it out next May.

There are, however, things I would not rush to buy. The newest Fall 2026 designer fashion is arriving now, and unless something is likely to sell out, paying close to full price during Fashion Week season makes little sense when markdowns will come later. The same applies to holiday toys and many electronics: Black Friday and Cyber Monday will bring another enormous round of competition. There are exceptions—Best Buy and Walmart do have legitimate electronics promotions this weekend—but don’t replace perfectly functional technology merely because Labor Day has given it a sale sticker.

The best Labor Day strategy is therefore wonderfully simple: buy what retailers are trying to get rid of, not what they’re excited to sell you. Summer fashion, outdoor furniture, mattresses, appliances, furniture and clearance merchandise are where the leverage is. Brand-new fall collections, holiday merchandise and impulse electronics can wait.

Remember 70% off something you actually wanted is a bargain. Seventy percent off something you never needed is still money spent.

Labor Day has become the unofficial farewell to summer—a final long weekend of beaches, barbecues and the terrible realization that September has arrived. But underneath the holiday is something considerably more important: the people who built, cleaned, taught, carried, cooked, stitched, drove, served and kept this country moving. American music has always told their stories, and musical theatre has done it particularly well. So before we say goodbye to summer, T2C turns up the volume with ten songs about work, money, ambition, exhaustion, dignity and that glorious fantasy every worker has entertained at least once: telling the boss exactly where the job can go.

1. “I Hear America Singing” — Working
This is where I would begin. Stephen Schwartz’s musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s Working is built around the voices of ordinary American workers, and this number makes labor itself the American chorus. Different jobs, different lives, different dreams—but together they create the sound of a country.

2. “9 to 5” — Dolly Parton or in my version the musical
Nearly half a century later, that opening typewriter rhythm still means business. Parton made workplace inequality funny, furious and irresistibly catchy. It also made its way to Broadway, so Dolly gets to belong to both sides of our playlist.

3. “A Shtetl Iz Amereke” — Ragtime
For the immigrant worker, America promised possibility—but possibility came with a price. Tateh arrives believing in that promise and discovers the grinding reality of factory labor. Ragtime understands that the American Dream and the American workplace have always had a complicated relationship.

4. “She Works Hard for the Money” — Donna Summer
Summer’s anthem was inspired by a real woman she encountered working as a restroom attendant late at night. Beneath the irresistible beat is something Labor Day ought to remember: dignity belongs to the worker regardless of the job.

5. “The Factory Girls/Come Up to My Office” — Parade
This takes the playlist somewhere darker. Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s musical places us inside an industrialized Atlanta where young women work in a pencil factory, reminding us that American labor history includes exploitation, dangerous workplaces and workers with very little power.

6. “Sixteen Tons” — Tennessee Ernie Ford
“I owe my soul to the company store” may be one of the most economical descriptions of worker exploitation ever put into a song. Coal, debt and a system designed to make sure the worker can never quite get ahead.

7. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” — Americana
And here’s our Broadway history lesson. E.Y. Harburg and Jay Gorney’s Depression-era masterpiece originated in the 1932 Broadway revue Americana. Its worker helped build the railroads, buildings and country—and then found himself discarded when the economy collapsed. More than 90 years later, it still hurts.

8. “Take This Job and Shove It” — Johnny Paycheck
After all that exploitation, somebody was eventually going to quit. There is nothing subtle about this one, which is precisely why it belongs here.

9. “Brotherhood of Man” — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Now we get wicked. Frank Loesser’s great corporate satire turns the workplace hierarchy into musical comedy as everybody scrambles up the ladder while pretending they’re all one happy corporate family. Broadway knew about office politics long before anyone invented LinkedIn.

10. “Bang the Drum All Day” — Todd Rundgren
And after celebrating the American worker, documenting exploitation, surviving the factory, climbing the corporate ladder and contemplating resignation, there is really only one sensible way to spend Labor Day.

Don’t work.

Turn up the music.

You’ve earned the day off.

G.H. Harding

HONEY MONEY NO MORE? — News that Maria Bartiromo was fired from Fox reverberated around the world and generated a literal ton of ink.

Bryan Freedman

With high-powered pit-bull lawyer Bryan Freedman (fresh from the Blake Lively/Just Baldoni mess) on the case, who knows what will happen.

She first gained notoriety as ‘Money Honey’ and has been a star for years.

(Via Showbiz 411) Maria Bartiromo’s new Hollywood lawyer has something to say. Bryan Freedman says Maria was not fired by Fox News, that she’s still an employee, and all reports to the contrary are false.

You can see his statement below.

Freedman also says there’s no truth to the reports that Bartiromo was acting as a double agent, feeding Donald Trump and Fox News with info about each other. Believe me, I know that when Fox News breaks up with you, it isn’t pretty. It’s not their style. In the end, they will have to pay out her contract. But for now, lots of posturing on both sides.

For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award-winning career.

The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false. Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.

Bryan Freedman, Attorney for Maria Bartiromo

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Derrek Kupish/Shutterstock (14186545bu)
Patti Labelle
2023 CMT Smashing Glass – Tributes to Tanya Tucker and Patti LaBelle, Arrivals, Nashville, Tennessee, USA – 15 Nov 2023

PATTI LABELLE — Common, Patti LaBelle and Public Enemy are the artists who will be honored at the 2026 Black Music Action Coalition Gala, presented by Live Nation, taking place on September 24, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. She of course, front LaBelle with the late Nona Hendryx, but has remained a marquee-name for sure. So well deserved!

SHORT TAKES — (Via Billboard.com) Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer has died. She was 70. Dubbed America’s best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson was best known for her genre-bending voice, which expanded the boundaries of traditional blues-based jazz and worked effortlessly across folk, pop, R&B, country and beyond. At the heart of all her work was her idiosyncratic contralto, a soulful sound distinctly tied to her roots … (Via Deadline) As Simon Cowell continues to recover from back surgery, another America’s Got Talent alum is returning to the judge’s table. On Wednesday’s episode of the NBC reality competition series, it was announced that Heidi Klum will fill in for Cowell next week during a special three-hour broadcast of the Season 21 quarterfinals. Klum served as a judge on America’s Got Talent from 2013 to 2018, before returning from 2020 to 2024. She exited the AGT judge’s table last year, shortly after she was invited back to host Project Runway for Freeform and Disney+ …

Mr T

On Friday’s Today Show, Al Roker caught with the infamous Mr. T from The A-Team. Who says you can’t get a doc made? Mr. T’s one is out now on Netflix … Much ink this week about Miley Cyrus changing her name to just Miley; and a new album appears with the single “Bass Persuades.” The song is typical high-energy Miley, but the video looks like a combo of the best parts of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video and Debbie Gibson’s “Electric Youth” video. Funny! …

Micky Dolenz on KTLA

Here’s Micky Dolenz at LA’s KTLA being interviewed in advance of his show at The United Theater Downtown in LA next Saturday, February 12; and his new EP Timeless, featuring the singles “Terri” and “Any Way You Want Me To.” February 12 is the official date of the Emmy-award winning TV-show The Monkees debuting on NBC. L-R-Standing-Jasmine Simpkins and Dolenz -sitting- Samantha Cortese and John Fenoglio … Anthony Pomes and his Doors-tribute band Carnival Dogs played My Father’s Place Friday night.

Eppy and Anthony Pomes aka “Inner Jim”

Here’s Inner Jim with Eppy … (via Deadline) Prime Video has opted not to proceed with a second season of the superhero series Spider-Noir starring Nicola Cage. Spider-Noir was the second series ordered and first to make it to the screen under a multi-title deal between Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television based on IP from Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel Characters. Too bad as I loved it and Cage was just superb as usual … Happy Bday Sharon White

 NAMES IN THE NEWS —– Anna Chan; Joe Lynch; Gary Graff; Paul Grein; Adam White; Anthony Pomes; Pierce Brosnan; Kevin Spacey; Kimberly Cornell; Amanda Naylor; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Gary Graff; John Hughes; Dan Mapp; Paul Pierce; Judy Kaufman; Marjorie Schwartz; Lora Evans; Ben Kenney; Angela Tarantino; Lee Jeske; Randy Alexander; Peter Shendell; Romeo Escobar; Oleg Cassini; and CHIP!

 Images on this page have been licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Before Rachel Zegler returns to Broadway as Eva Perón, she is making a considerably less formal stop in Cuba.

The Olivier and Golden Globe Award winner will host the next “dance-along” performance of the Tony and Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club on Tuesday, September 29 at 7 p.m., continuing what has quietly become one of Broadway’s most joyful traditions.

For one performance, the usual Broadway commandment—sit down and behave yourself—gets loosened considerably. Audience members are invited to dance from their seats whenever the music takes over, whether that means swaying, shaking a shoulder or surrendering completely to the rhythms that have made Buena Vista Social Club such an exhilarating night in the theatre.

There are rules. This is Broadway, after all. Patrons are asked to dance responsibly and return to their seats between songs so everyone can see and enjoy the performance. But within those boundaries, the evening turns the theatre into something closer to a communal celebration than a conventional Broadway musical.

Zegler follows a rather spectacular trio of previous hosts. Lin-Manuel Miranda launched the dance-along series in March, John Leguizamo took over in May, and Lupita Nyong’o hosted the most recent edition this summer. Each performance sold out, making a fourth installment almost inevitable. Zegler is an especially delicious choice.

She will return to Broadway next year in Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, reprising the Eva Perón performance that earned her the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The production begins previews February 27, 2027, at the Winter Garden Theatre and officially opens March 25.

The London production became a phenomenon, with Zegler’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” spilling beyond the walls of the London Palladium as she performed the number from the theatre’s exterior balcony. That particular staging will not be recreated in New York; director Jamie Lloyd has said he is developing a new idea specifically for Broadway.

September 29th is a rather wonderful Broadway appetizer. Before the balcony, before the Winter Garden, before the diamonds and the ambition of Eva Perón, Rachel Zegler will be at Buena Vista Social Club, where the assignment is considerably simpler: Feel the music…..and dance.

Tickets for this special Dance-Along performance, as well as all regularly scheduled performances, are available at buenavistasocialclub.com