and I believed this feast day was moved from another on the old calendar to May first to satisfy the communists. am I correct?
Don't know about that. The Solemnity of St. Joseph is still celebrated on May 19th.
Solemnity of Saint Joseph is March 19, the feast of the Patronage of Saint Joseph used to be the third Wednesday after Easter. The Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is the what that Patronage feast became (I think) under Pius XII.
But it wasn't to satisfy the communists, it was to give them a more suitable role model. Saint Joseph pray for us.
Claud...ping.
The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was instituted in 1955 by Pope Pius XII. Many consider this an appeasement to the commies; however, I disagree and see this feast as a counterattack against the Marxist notion of labor and a wonderful Feast Day for working men to have St. Joseph as a patron.
As to the old calendar question you raise:
Before 1955, today was the Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles. This feast was moved to May 11th. in 1955, and then moved back to May 3rd. in 1969.
Likewise, before 1955, there existed a second Feast of St. Joseph under the name "The Solemnity of St. Joseph" which was celebrated on the Wednesday in the 2nd. Week after the Octave of Easter (i.e. this Wednesday if still in existence). The Solemnity was meant to be a Feast to "fully" celebrate St. Joseph in the joy of Eastertide since his original feast almost always falls in Lent. The Solemnity Feast was removed from the Calendar and replaced with today's Feast on the fixed date of May 1st.
In the 1962 Calendar, which Claud and I adhere to on account of our attending the TLM, St. Joseph the Worker is a Feast of the First Class. Unfortunately, in my opinion, when the Calendar was changed in 1969, this Feast was downgraded to an optional Memorial.