Father’s Day is a day for the men, a day to honor fathers and father figures for the roles they play in their children’s lives and the contributions they make. It is celebrated on the third Sunday in June every year, although it is not a federal holiday it is a nationwide holiday in the United States. Father’s Day was first celebrated on June 19, 1910, in the state of Washington but was not officially recognized as a holiday until President Richard Nixon signed Proclamation 4127–Father’s Day (fifty-eight years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mothers Day official). In an excerpt from the proclamation Nixon states:
“Our identity in name and nature, our roots in home and family, our very standard of manhood—all this and more is the heritage our fathers share with us. It is a rich patrimony, one for which adequate thanks can hardly be offered in a lifetime, let alone a single day. Still it has long been our national custom to observe each year one special Sunday in honor of America's fathers; and from this year forward, by a joint resolution of the Congress approved April 24, 1972, that custom carries the weight of law.”
So how did Father’s Day get its roots? There have been a series of events that have inspired the idea of Father’s Day, such as the start of Mother’s Day dating back to the first decade of the 20th century. Another event was a saddening memorial service held in 1908 for a large group of coal miners who were killed in a mining accident in Monogah, West Virginia in December of 1907. Many of the men involved in the infamous mining event were fathers. However, the key role in the founding for a day to honor the fathers came when a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd who is known as the “Mother of Father’s Day” was raised by her father of six children after her mother died in childbirth. After attending a church service about Mother’s Day, she questioned why there was no special day for the Fathers. After attending that sermon, Dodd later suggested establishing such a holiday to the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA. And so the first unofficial Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910.
Taking your father out to their favorite restaurant is widely used as well as gifting grilling equipment, tools, gift cards, and outdoor home goods. Here at US Flag Supply, we say your dad is someone to look up to – And Father’s Day is your chance to pay him back with something he can look up to everyday. Literally, with a flag pole kit, a unique gift that will stand the test of time and be something that the special men in your lives can be proud of. Cheers to the fathers!