Superheroes have gone mainstream over the last few years and are as popular as ever. The characters once confined largely to comic books have reached a global audience with a wide variety of products and movies. One of the most recognizable superheroes in the world is Superman with his trademark costume and high moral compass. He has been in all media from comics and TV to motion pictures and animated shows. Although most people are familiar with the Superman of the past couple of decades the beginnings of the character are not commonly known. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932 and was conceived as a newspaper comic strip character. The guys worked on the character for several years with little success. They authored a variety of short stories for comic books such as “Doctor Occult” and “Radio Squad” but they always loved the Superman character they had created which had been shelved after submitting it to National Comics in New York.
The Adventures of Superman began broadcast in 1952 running for 102 episodes and became a wild success with appeal to the whole family. Over the years Superman was a central character in animated shows such as the 1966 title “The New Adventures of Superman”, “The Super Friends” (1973-84). There have been a number of Superman television shows over the years but the Christopher Reeve movies that began in 1978 are among the best known versions of the character. The Smallville series started in 2001 and represents the teen and young adult life of the Clark Kent/Superman persona. Regardless of the media, Superman has become a worldwide phenomenon and his ideals of truth, justice, and the American way have become ingrained in our society as the ideals to which we should all aspire.
History of Father’s Day
Father’s Day is a well known holiday celebrating dads, forefathers, and male parents in general. It is a fairly recent holiday and was instituted as a complement to the established Mother’s Day celebration. Father’s Day was created in the early years of the 20th century and it usually consists of family activities such as gift giving or dining out. Dads around the world probably have closets full of bad ties given over the years since fathers are notoriously difficult to find an appropriate gift for.
Ms. Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the holiday during a Mother’s Day sermon at her church in Spokane, Washington in 1909. She put together a celebration for her father on June 19, 1910 and was the first person to champion an official holiday to honor fathers in general. There was support from groups such as the YMCA, YWCA, and numerous churches but it still took many years to get the holiday officially recognized. People considered Father’s Day to basically be a joke and did not take it seriously. Mother’s Day was looked forward to and celebrated with sincerity but Father’s Day was the object of parody and the butt of many jokes often printed in newspapers. They saw it as the beginning of frivolous holidays including Professional Secretary Day or National Clean Your Desk Day, etc.
| In 1913 a congressional bill was introduced but was not quickly successful. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge put his support behind the idea. Several trade organizations formed a committee during the 1930s and made an effort to bring legitimacy to Father’s Day. It was not until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation formally recognizing it as a federal holiday. As with many holidays, Father’s Day has become increasingly commercialized with multitudes of retailers marketing a wide range of merchandise and gift ideas for dad. The trade |
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| groups of the 1930s often participated in the mocking of Father’s Day and promoted gifts at the same time. The Mother’s Day holiday is very sentimental and its legitimacy is not questioned since it is a proper homage to the contributions of our mothers. Speaking as a father, it is also as important to recognize the important role father’s play even if we are difficult to shop for. A bad tie is just fine. | ||||||||||||
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