Father’s Day History

With Father’s Day just
around the corner I got to thinking of how Father’s Day got started. Since
I’m a Mother my first thought is to say that Father’s Day probably
started because Men couldn’t swallow the fact that there was a Holiday
out there that had NOTHING to do with them. So, of course, these men (or fathers)
had to begin their own Holiday. But, that couldn’t be further from the
truth. Today I was doing some reading on the Internet and discovered that not
only was Father’s Day not started by selfish men, but it wasn’t
even started by a man at all!! It was started by a Woman. Here is a little Father’s
Day History:

1. In 1909 a woman
   named Sonora Smart Dodd proposed the idea of Father’s Day. She had six
   siblings and when her mother was giving birth to the sixth child she died
   during childbirth. Her father was left to raise all six children himself.
   When Sonora was grown she realized how much work it must have been for her
   father. This is when she decided to propose the idea of Father’s Day.
   
2. June 19th, 1910
   the first official Father’s Day was celebrated in Washington, USA
3. In 1924 President
   Calvin Coolidge publicly announces his support for the idea of Father’s
   Day.
4. President Richard
   Nixon signs into Law the 3rd Sunday of June the day to observe the Holiday,
   Father’s Day.
5. In 2006
1. There was 143,000
   Stay-At-Home-Dad’s in the United States alone. This number was taken
   from the U.S. Census Press Release site. They classify the Stay-At-Home-Dad
   as “These married fathers with children under 15 years old have remained
   out of the labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care
   for the family while their wives work outside the home.”
2. 102 million
   Father’s Day Cards sent out. This means Father’s Day is the
   5th Largest Card Sending Holiday. This Fact is from Hallmark.
3. 66.3 Million
   Father’s across the United States.

Happy Father’s Day all of
you Wonderful Fathers!!!

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