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 20^th 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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