by Shannon Butler
The first time the phrase “Father’s Day” appeared in print in our local newspaper was in 1914 when the Presbyterian Church in Lagrangeville decided to pay tribute to dads on August 9th. There was no official holiday for fathers at that time but the idea for such a celebration had popped up in various places around the country. In 1918, a little blurb appeared in the Poughkeepsie Eagle News that said, “Why Not? We forget whether in this grand and glorious country of ours we ever had a fathers’ day. If not there ought to be one. Frinstance a nice big rally alongside some good fishing streams out in the country. Oh you fathers’ day!”
A notice from Luckey, Platt & Co. reminded its customers not to forget their father’s on June 15th and this was in 1924 when there was still no official holiday to speak of. Wallace’s Department store also made the same reminder stating, “On Sunday June 15th, the whole world will be thinking of its own father. It’s a day when we all like to make him a remembrance if he is still with us.” However, do you notice a trend in the early mentions of “Father’s Day”? They are almost all from local shops insisting not to forget your father by purchasing for him some cigars, or a new tie, or golfing socks (actually, that’s not a bad idea, my dad loves golfing.)
In reality, the holiday appears to have been the work of a mother! Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the idea to honor her own father (a Civil War veteran) in Spokane Washington, somewhere around 1910. The idea was later supported by President Woodrow Wilson but Congress did not wish to make it an official holiday as they feared it would end up being commercialized (as you can see from the advertisements here, they were kind of right). But the idea to celebrate fathers had come after the idea to celebrate mothers and even then, Mother’s Day was legitimized in 1914 whereas Father’s Day would not become a national holiday until 1972.
Regardless of the timing or the official mumbo jumbo, it is only fair that we take at least a day to appreciate Dads and all that they do for us. To the right we have an image of an unidentified Father and son taken by Vail Studios as well as a lovely photo of John R. Reynolds and his daughter (future History nerd) Helen Wilkinson Reynolds. Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads!
