25 Fun facts about Father's Day.

1. There are two stories of how Father’s Day came about, one that dates back to West Virginia in 1908, and the other to Spokane, Washington around the same year.

2. On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church hosted the country’s first event in honor of fathers on Grace Golden Clayton’s suggestion.  It was a sermon in memory of 362 men who’d died the previous December in a mining accident nearby.

3. The same year, Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington, began rallying support for an annual day for Fathers, the equivalent to Mother’s Day.  She did it to commemorate her father, William Smart, who was a civil war veteran and widower, who went on to raise 6 children by himself.   

4. On July 19, 1910, Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day in large part due to Sonora’s campaign.

5. In 1916, President Wilson honored the state’s unofficial holiday in Spokane by sending a telegraph from the White House ordering a flag to be unfurled there.

6. President Calvin Coolidge pushed for state governments to adopt Father’s Day in 1924, but was met with a lot of resistance.

7. Many men thought it was a trivial and frilly holiday.  As one historian documented, men of the day, ““scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products–often paid for by the father himself.”

8. Throughout the 1920’s, it remained a polarizing issue, with equal support for designating a national Father’s Day or combining it with Mother’s Day, forming a new Parent’s Day.  Pro-parents groups actually met in New York City and rallied in Central Park for this issue. 

9. During the Depression, retailers promoted the then-dormant holiday as an attempt to rekindle struggling sales.  They called it a “second Christmas for men,” and promoted gifts of neckties, hats, socks, pipes, tobacco, golf clubs, and sporting goods.

10. Father’s Day really took hold during World War II, when advertisers promoted the holiday as a way to honor American Troops at war, endearing the public, but still as an informal annual event.

11. Father’s Day earned official recognition in 1966, when President Lyndon B. Johnson designated an executive order to make the third Sunday in June the official day to celebrate fathers.

12. Not until 1972 under President Nixon, 58 years after Mother’s Day became official, did Father’s Day become a national holiday. 

These days, Americans spend a whopping $12.7 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts, cards, and celebrations!  That still pales in comparison to the $18.6 billion, spent each year on Mother’s Day.

13. Other countries soon picked up on the idea of Father’s Day, though they celebrate it on different dates and with different customs.  It’s celebrated the third Sunday of June in Antigua, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Trinidad, Turkey, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

Lithuania, Austria, Ecuador, Belgium, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Poland, and Uganda celebrate Father’s Day in June but on different days.

Uruguay and the Dominican Republic celebrate it in July, Brazil, China, Taiwan, and Argentina in August, and Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal in September.  Luxembourg commemorates the day in October, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in November, and Thailand on December 5.  Iran, Bolivia, Honduras, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Lichtenstein celebrate Father’s Day in March.

14. The rose is the official flower of Father’s Day – a white rose if the father is deceased, or red if he is living.

15. The latest census reports there are 70 million fathers in the United States; 1.7 million of them single fathers.

16. Hallmark reports that Father’s Day is their 4^th largest holiday for sending cards, with 110 million exchanged for the holiday.  This year, they’re releasing 800 types of cards for fathers!

17. A National Retail Federation survey found that on average, $117.14 is spent per person on Father’s Day – still less than the $152 for Mother’s Day. 

18. When asked, fathers said they wanted to receive gift cards (31.2%), dinner (24.7%), and electronics (29%) this year for presents.

19. More than 50% of Father’s Day shoppers will buy gifts online, while only 9% will shop at mom and pop stores. 

20. According to Insure.com’s Father’s Day Index, if you paid mothers a salary for their work around the house, it would be around $61,000.  The same Index shows father’s contributions to be a little over $20,000!

21. About 75% of fathers surveyed said they were more involved with their kids than their fathers had been.  Data shows that fathers are spending 86% more time with their children than their fathers did. 

22. 52% of fathers are the primary grocery shoppers for their families.  That may not sound like much, but it’s up from only 10% in 1995!

23. 81% of adults polled think Mother’s Day and Father’s Day should be celebrated equally.

24. Fathers still love nice gifts for Father’s Day (especially electronics,) but 24.7% of them said they’d like to get a homemade gift from their children this year, and 25% said they’d like to be taken out to dinner. 

25. In a very formal poll, 100% of all fathers voted to make every day Father's Day!  But until that happens, enjoy your day of recognition for being a great dad!