 Father's Day, contrary to popular
misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card
manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a "father's day" was first proposed
there were no Father's Day cards!  Mrs.
John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in
1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a
Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with
their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by
himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an
adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his
children as a single parent.
The first Father's Day was
observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns
and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a "father's
day." In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's
Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring
the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.
Father's Day has become a day to
not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles,
grandfathers, and adult male friends are all be honored on Father's Day.
The white or red
rose is the official flower for Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd suggested that people wear a white
rose to honor a father who was deceased and a red rose for a father who was living.
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