MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

By Lynette Wairegi

the London Evening News saying “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie.

The earliest uses of the phrase “May the 4th Be with You” that we have evidence for date from 1978, one year after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope.

By then, Star Wars was firmly established within American popular culture and became “like a handshake,” as Professor Leo Braudy would later comment in the documentary, Empire of Dreams.

That summer of 1978, clever newspaper writers used the phrase as a gimmick to mark Independence Day celebrations on the Fourth of July. “

English-speaking audiences in the United Kingdom were familiar with it as well. It was on May 4, 1979, that the first known instance of “May the 4th Be with You” being used to mark the earlier date took place.

Another lesser-known instance came from within Lucasfilm in 1982.

Randy Thom, who today is the director of sound design at Skywalker Sound and has been with the company for over 40 years, worked as a location sound recordist on Revenge of the Jedi - its title, of course, it was later changed, and at the time of production it was known under the codename Blue Harvest. Thom joined the production unit in northern California as they shot in the redwood forest doubling for the moon of Endor.

May 4, 1982, happened to be a working day, and Thom recalled thinking of the pun on his own when contemplating the date. He shared it with others on the set and would continue to write an annual message to the company declaring “May the 4th Be with You” for years to come.

So, how did you celebrate Star Wars Day?

Did you watch some Star Wars movies? Or maybe bake some Yodi-faced cookies?

Whatever you did…

May the 4th be with you, always.