Sunday is Father’s Day, when dads everywhere are celebrated. While the first Father’s Day was held in 1910 as a response to Mother’s Day, which began a year earlier, it wasn’t until more than 60 years later until it was declared a national holiday.
The very first father to be recognized on Father’s Day was William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran who raised six children by himself in Spokane, Washington, during the waning years of the 19th Century. When Smart’s daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, heard a sermon about Mother’s Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers deserved to have a similar holiday of their own.
Dodd suggested that Father’s Day be held on June 5, her father’s birthday, but that didn’t give pastors enough time to prepare their sermons, so the first Father’s Day was celebrated on the third Sunday in June.
Not Popular at First
Initially, Father’s Day didn’t catch on in the way that Mother’s Day did. It was mocked by many as being a transparently commercial attempt to profit from children’s love for their fathers. Father’s Day was routinely mocked and lampooned in newspapers and elsewhere as a cynical attempt to capitalize on the success of Mothers Day.
Still, Dodd was persistent. In 1938, she gained the support of the Father’s Day Council — which was founded by the New York Associated Men’s Wear Retailers — in promoting a day of recognition for fathers.
As time went on, Father’s Day began to be more accepted by the public and by the 1980s, the Father’s Day Council declared that the holiday was like a “Second Christmas” for retailers offering gifts for men such as golf clubs, neckties and colognes.
Political Hot Potato
Over the years, Father’s Day had become something of a political hot potato. Concerned about popular criticism of the event, many presidents were reluctant to touch Father’s Day. As early as 1916, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to declare it a national holiday, but many in Congress balked, fearing that it would become too commercialized, and the idea was dropped.
President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that Father’ Day be observed nationally, but wouldn’t go so far as to declare it an official holiday. And 52 years later, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers and designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
But Father’s Day wasn’t made an official permanent national holiday until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed it into law.
In many countries — including the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan and most European countries — Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. But in Russia, it is celebrated on February 23 and in Bulgaria, dads have to wait until December 26 to get their day of recognition.
A Unique, Memorable Father’s Day Gift
This year, rather than getting dad the same old gifts such as neckties or golf clubs, why not surprise him with something he will always remember, such as a new workbench from Bahrns. We offer a full selection of professional grade workbenches in a variety of size and materials. Dad will love using his new workbench as he works on home projects in the basement or garage.
Happy Father’s Day from the Bahrns family to yours!