Mother’s Day and Father’s Day go hand and hand, one would think. If we celebrate Mom, we should celebrate Dad, right?
While Mother’s Day became an official holiday in 1914, Father’s Day took a bit longer to enter the national zeitgeist.
History of Father’s Day
Father’s Day was originally a Catholic holiday, corresponding with St. Joseph’s Day on March 19.
The first campaign to create a National Father’s Day occurred in 1913. President Woodrow Wilson was in favor of this effort, but Congress feared it would be commercialized in the same way Mother’s Day was and rejected it in 1916.
In fact, even after it became more widely recognized throughout the nation as an unofficial celebration, American citizens were resistant to it. They suspected it was a marketing ploy similar to what Mother’s Day had become.
But Father’s Day eventually became a national holiday. President Lyndon Johnson proposed it again in 1966, and the holiday was officially instated under President Richard Nixon in 1972.
How to spell Father’s Day
Unlike Mother’s Day, our holiday for dads did begin with a plural spelling, Fathers’ Day. But marketing decided the spelling for us, and now the holiday is generally singular possessive: Father’s Day.
If you want to write a kind note to your parent, whether it’s your mother, father, stepparent, or caregiver, you can find a guide to writing a heartfelt note to your parent here.
