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In
the United States, the driving force behind the establishment of the
celebration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father,
the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised
his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna
Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially
suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father’s death, she did not
provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the
celebration was deferred to the third Sunday in June. The first
Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane Washington. Unofficial
support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and
widespread. Woodrow Wilson was personally so feted by his family in
1916, and Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924.
The all-male U.S. Congress, however, was mindful that passing a measure
so favorable to males could be seen as a conflict of interest. In 1966,
Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the
third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until
the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1972. Father’s
Day celebrates fatherhood and parenting by males, just as Mother’s Day
celebrates motherhood. Typically giving gifts to fathers and celebrating
as a family is the main event of the day. Father’s Day is celebrated
at differing times through the year as seen below. Father’s
Day exists almost all over the world to honor and commemorate fathers or
forefathers. In the Roman Catholic tradition, Father’s Day is
celebrated on Saint Joseph’s Day, though in most countries Father’s
Day is a secular celebration. In
recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by selling
male-oriented gifts such as hardware and tools. Dates
of Father’s Day Countries
that observe Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June include:
Argentina, Canada, Chile, Cuba, France, Hong Kong S.A.R., India,
Pakistan, Ireland, Japan, Macao S.A.R., Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the
Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa,
Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela. Countries
with other celebration dates: Austria - second Sunday of June; Australia
- first Sunday of September; Belgium - St Joseph’s day (March 19), and
the second Sunday of June (Secular); Brazil - second Sunday of August;
Bulgaria - June 20; Denmark June 5 (also Constitution Day); Dominican
Republic - last Sunday of July; Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, -
second Sunday of November; Germany - Ascension Day (originally intended
by socialists to replace the Christian holiday, but now the two are
generally combined); Italy, Portugal, Spain - March 19; Lithuania -
first Sunday of June - New Zealand - first Sunday of September; Poland -
June 23; Russia - February 23 (Army Day); South Korea - May 8
(Parents’ Day); Thailand - December 5 (birthday of King Bhumibol
Adulyadej); Taiwan - August 8. The word for the date, bā bā,
(8/8) is a near-homophone of the word for father in Chinese, “爸爸”
bàba. Trivia More
collect calls are made on Father’s Day than any other day. (Source:
The Book of Useless Information, page 240, pub., 2002.) Several people came up with the idea of wearing flowers to commemorate fathers. Mrs. Dodd favored the rose; red for a living father, white for one who is deceased. J.H. Berringer selected a white lilac combined with a green leaf. In 1924, a Pennsylvanian bible class opted for a more unusual flower, the dandelion. They felt this was a perfect choice because ‘the more it is trampled on, the more it grows.’ |
