On the third Sunday in June, families in nations worldwide collect to honor their fathers. Traditionally, Dads are honored with gifts and celebratory meals. Though Father’s Day has been an American tradition for many families over the last hundred years, the first national observation was not held until 1972.

Ms. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington was the driving force behind the Father’s Day concept. The idea came to her after listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at church in 1909. Smart, who had been raised by her father William, felt that there should be a holiday equal to Mother’s Day in honor of our country’s dads.

A number of United States presidents were involved in the official marking of Father’s Day, dating back to the term of Calvin Coolidge. President Coolidge recommended Father’s Day be added to the national calendar in 1924, but it wasn’t until 1966, during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, that the holiday warranted another presidential glance. Johnson recommended the third Sunday in June as the holidays observation date, and Richard Nixon solidified the commemoration in 1972, when the holiday was made official. Though Father’s Day is celebrated by the government in June, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates on March 19^th, on the Feast of St. Joseph.

Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day has become a strongly commercialized date. Card companies, tool and electronic retailers, and home improvement stores have adopted advertising campaigns to suit gifts for dads. Buying your dad a gift he has been wanting can be a great way to treat him on Father’s Day. It would also be a thoughtful gesture to make him a card or gift by hand, school programs typically facilitate children’s crafts to honor their fathers.

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