Father's Day falls on June 21, 2015. The idea for a Father's Day observance and holiday began 107 years ago in 1908. It took 64 years from 1908 until 1972 for the observance to become an official holiday after President Richard Nixon issued a proclamation. Six years earlier, President Lyndon B. Johnson had declared that Father's Day would be observed on the third Sunday of every June, but he didn't make it an official holiday.
How Father's Day Became a National Holiday
Most historians agree that the woman who was affectionately referred to as the Mother of Father's Day, Sonora Smith Dodds, deserves the credit for coming up with the idea for a day on which to honor fathers. As she sat in a Spokane, Washington Church on Mother's Day in 1908, listening to the pastor deliver a sermon, it occurred to her that fathers deserved to be recognized for their accomplishments, too.
Mrs. Dodd was the only girl in a family of six children. The youngest boy was born in 1898, and his birth must have been very difficult because Mrs. Smith, who was Mrs. Dodd's mother, died in childbirth. That meant that her father, William Jackson Smith, a farmer who owned land in a remote part of Eastern Washington, had to raise the six children all alone while tending to the farm that was the family's sole means of support.
Sonora Smith Dodds wanted to have the Father's Day observance in June because that was the month of her father's birthday. Originally, she wanted to have it on June 5, to coincide with her father's birthday. When it became clear that a June 5 observance wouldn't be feasible, the other people who helped her plan the celebration convinced her to move the date to June 19, 1908, and many historians believe that that was the nation's first official Father's Day celebration.
Father's Day Gift Giving and Tributes
Mrs. Dodd thought that one way that people could show their respect for their fathers was to wear red roses for fathers that were alive, but white flowers should be worn when the father was deceased. Over the years, gift giving became a big part of Father's Day observances all across the country. Shirts, ties, tools, and gadgets have always been hot ticket items for retailers just before Father's Day.
Treat dad to our Live Maine Marvel Deluxe. This lavish gift treats dad to delicacies from the East coast, including two live Maine Lobsters, two six-ounce filet mignons, 20 ounces of New England Clam Chowder, one pound of jumbo shrimp cocktail, 24 ounce plain cheesecake, Columbian coffee and all the necessary supplies to prepare this delicious feast.
Let French Florist help you find the perfect gift to give your father this Father's Day.
