How did Father's Day develop

Father's Day, like Mother's Day, does have some ancient traditions and roots, although most modern celebrations are influenced by the American-style celebration. Nevertheless, Fatherhood has been celebrated for centuries, often reflecting changing attitudes on the roles and duties of fathers. Fatherhood's importance has been reflected by religious and secular celebrations for centuries.

Early History

It is purported that the earliest celebration of a father dates to about 4,000 years ago, to ancient Babylon, where a boy, named Elmesu, created a type of card for his father out of clay that wished him good health and a long life. While this might not relate to any special day celebrating fathers, it could suggest occasions may have been selected, perhaps without a specific calendar date, where fathers would be given well wishes.

In early Christian tradition, Saint Joseph, Jesus' father, was celebrated on March 19th. Some have speculated that the date was selected because it falls near March 20th, which is the equinox. The Sun may have been celebrated in parts of Europe around that time, prior to the arrival of Christianity, and a fatherly figure was equated with the sun. However, this connection is not clear. In any case, the celebration of Joseph, both in European Catholic tradition, and that in the Middle East, such as through the Coptic and Orthodox churches, equated fatherhood with that of Joseph. Saint Joseph was celebrated for nurturing Jesus in his youth. Thus, fatherhood was seen as an important role to celebrate for its nourishment, spiritually and in sustenance, for children raised. The tradition of celebrating Saint Joseph was spread throughout areas Spanish explorers went, particularly the New World. Some countries today have now made the celebration of Father's Day on March 19th, where the date is seen as being inspired by Saint Joseph. The Coptic church celebrates Saint Joseph on July 20th; for Egyptian Christians, July 20th is still a significant day and often is associated with celebrating fathers and fatherhood. This might date from the 5th century and could be among the earliest recorded celebrations in relation to officially celebrating fatherhood.

Early Development in the United States

Father's Day origins in the United States derive from 1908, soon after Mother's Day was initiated by Anne Jarvis. Similar to Mother's Day, the origin relate to mourning of a loss of a father. This time, it was Grace Golden Clayton, from Fairmont, West Virginia, was morning her father. However, she lost her father in a very tragic mining accident in December 1907, where 361 men died in a major incident in Monogah, West Virginia. She had asked the local pastor in Fairmont to celebrate not just her father but all fathers lost on July 5, 1908. Unlike Jarvis, Clayton was far less vocal and the tradition did not spread far outside of Fairmont for some time.

In 1910, another woman, Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane Washington, was listening to a Mother's Day sermon when she wanted to have a Father's Day celebration. Mostly she felt mothers were getting more attention than fathers who had also sacrificed a lot or sometimes dealt with adversity in raising their children. In fact, her father was a war veteran who raised six children by himself after the death of his wife. He often worked long hours to provide for his family on his meager farm. Initially, she wanted to celebrate the day on June 5th, which was her father's birthday, but the Methodist Church she asked to preach about fathers decided to make it the third sunday of June for the official sermon and celebration on fatherhood.

In the first few years after 1910, the idea of Father's Day spread throughout the country and prominent politicians such as William Jennings Bryant and members of congress proposed a bill to celebrate Father's Day in 1913. The bill was slow to come to the floor and Woodrow Wilson made a new push to celebrate it officially in 1916 by wanting it declared as a federal holiday. By then, however, it became evident that Mother's Day had become very commercialized. Congress feared it was simply making a commercial holiday or benefit rather than a real holiday to celebrate fathers. Members of Congress killed the proposal and the idea faded again until President Coolidge proposed it being celebrated by Americans in 1924. Recognizing the problems with commercialism in Mother's Day, he simply recommended people celebrate Father's Day.

Meanwhile, Dodd continued promoting the idea of Father's Day, where the third Sunday of June had become the holiday people celebrated. Similar to Mother's Day, many business that saw a potential benefit from Father's Day did begin to help Dodd in promoting Fathers Day in the 1930s. Perhaps the Great Depression helped create incentive for them to replicate the success of Mother's Day by this time promoting male-oriented gifts such as pipes. However, this was probably off-putting to Americans who were not impressed with how Mother's Day became so commercialized. Thus, Father's Day did not gain in much popularity in the 1930s-1940s.