Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, and we don’t just celebrate it because the rest of the world is celebrating it. Let’s delve into the history of how Father’s Day come about.
The origin of Father’s Day
Where there is Mother’s Day, there would definitely be a Father’s Day as well. Father’s Day is a celebration that honour fathers and celebrate fatherhood and the influence of fathers in society. It was first proposed by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington in 1909. It is now celebrated on the third Sunday in June.
Dodd came from a single parent family. Her father, a Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart raised his six children. After hearing a sermon about Anna Jarvis’s Mother’s Day at Central Methodist Episcopal Church in 1909, Dodd told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honouring them. She initially suggested 5th June, her father’s birthday, but the pastors did not have time to prepare their sermon and it was deferred to the third Sunday of June.
It did not gain much success initially, and in the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration and it faded into obscurity. After Dodd returned to Spokane in the 1930s, she started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level. She had the help of those trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and any traditional present to fathers. Since 1938 she had the help of the Father’s Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men’s Wear Retailers to consolidate and systematize the commercial promotion. Americans initially resisted the holiday and newspapers frequently featured cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes. The trade groups did not give up and eventually succeeded. By the nid-1980s, the Father’s Council wrote that Father’s Day has become a second Christmas for all the men’s gift-oriented industries.
Reasons to celebrate Father’s Day
- Fathers has served as the role models to their children. In most countries, fathers is generally the guardian and the advocate of the family.
- Fathers is the rock for many families and provide a comforting shoulder to lean on. Many children in the early stages of lives depended on their fathers for emotional support.
- In many families, fathers are the breadwinner and the financial backbone of the family.
- Fathers are the DIY experts in the households. Minor tasks such as fixing the fence or changing the light bulbs are usually carried out by the fathers and they pass on this knowledge to their children.
- Many fathers are the most inspirational figures in the lives of the children. Many children strive to be like their fathers.
Of course, just because Father’s Day in an important day, it does not mean that for our day to day lives, we do not need to show our appreciation to our fathers. It is always nice to show some nice gestures to our fathers often, and fathers will definitely love that. For this Father’s Day, take the chance to whip out some surprises for your fathers. Whether is it a big surprise or small surprise, fathers will love it.
