Our modern celebration of “Mother’s Day” has its roots in the post-Civil War peace and reconciliation movements. Mothers of both Union and Confederate soldiers came together for “Mother’s Work Days” in a divided West Virginia town in the 1860s, thanks to the initiative of activist Ann Reeves Jarvis.

But Mother’s Day didn’t become a commercial holiday until 1908, when the John Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia sponsored a service honoring mothers in its auditorium. This was in response to Anna Jarvis, Jarvis’s daughter, who wanted to honor her own mother by making Mother’s Day a national holiday.

Mother’s Day quickly gained popularity, largely due to this affiliation with shops who saw significant profit possibilities in the occasion. President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May as a holiday in remembrance of “that tender, gentle army, the mothers of America.” In 1909, 45 states honored the day.

Were you aware? In the US, there are more than 70 million fathers.

The history of Father’s Day
Perhaps because, as one florist put it, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have,” the nation’s fathers were not as enthusiastically welcomed into the celebration.

A Sunday sermon in honor of the 362 men who had perished in the explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah the previous December was organized by a West Virginia church on July 5, 1908, marking the first event in the history of the country specifically honoring fathers. However, this was a one-time observance rather than a yearly holiday.

The following year, a widower’s six children from Spokane, Washington, named Sonora Smart Dodd attempted to create an official Mother’s Day substitute for fathers. She sought support for her concept from local churches, the YMCA, business owners, and government representatives. Her efforts were successful, as on June 19, 1910, Washington State observed the first-ever statewide Father’s Day in American history.

The holiday spread slowly. President Wilson commemorated the day in 1916 by pressing a button in Washington, D.C., and utilizing telegraph signals to raise a flag in Spokane. Father’s Day was to be observed by state governments, according to President Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

On March 19, which is St. Joseph’s Day, a traditional Catholic festival, dads are recognized in various nations, particularly in Europe and Latin America.

Father’s Day: Commercialization and Controversy
Still, a great deal of males detested the day. According to a historian, people either laughed at the sentimental attempts made by the festival to domesticate manliness through the distribution of gifts and flowers, or they mocked the fact that such holidays are becoming more common and are frequently sponsored by the father himself.

There was a push in the 1920s and 1930s to combine Father’s Day and Mother’s Day into one celebration called Parents’ Day. Pro-Parents Day organizations held annual protests in Central Park, New York City, as a public reminder that “both parents should be loved and respected together,” according to Parents Day activist and radio artist Robert Spere.

Ironically, though, this attempt to de-commercialize and unify the holidays was thwarted by the Great Depression. In an attempt to turn Father’s Day into a “second Christmas” for men, struggling merchants and advertisers increased their efforts, pushing products like hats, neckties, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other athletic items, and greeting cards.

Advertisers claimed that honoring Father’s Day was a means to honor American troops and aid in the war effort when World War II broke out. Father’s Day was a national institution by the end of the war, even though it wasn’t a federal holiday.

Father’s Day became a federal holiday when Richard Nixon issued a proclamation in 1972, during the tumultuous presidential reelection campaign. According to experts, Americans spend over $1 billion annually on Father’s Day presents.

Father’s Day, which falls on June 16, 2024, is observed on the third Sunday of June in the United States as a day to commemorate fathers.