A small church in West Virginia held the first public event honoring hard-working dads in July 1908 in remembrance of 362 men killed in a mine explosion the previous December. Sonora Smart Dodd, of Spokane, Washington. is credited with brainstorming the annual celebration of fathers with her own father, a civil war veteran, and widower who raised six kids on his own, in mind. Father's Day was officially recognized statewide in 1910. Roses were originally a big part of Father's Day celebrations, as daughters gave their fathers a red rose during church services. Red roses were pinned to the lapels of children to honor their fathers. White roses were provided for those whose fathers were deceased.
Now that you know, here's a music video depicting just how fun fathership can be ;-)
Seems like I would have heard this story before but I forget a lot of things. Other than a brief church attendance in the morning, I spent most of Father's Day alone. It was nice though. All my girls called ( or tried to call) me during the day. It was a wonderful peaceful day for me.
ReplyDeleteLee
Wonderful, peaceful is the very best kind of day to have ;- ) I always called my dad too. I had to be mindful of the time difference so I didn't wake him, but allow enough time to talk till we ran out of things to say ;-)
DeleteHappy June!
Interesting to learn the history of Father's Day! I hope you and your family had a good one. ☺ That is a fun video. I bet a lot of men think mothers have it easy. I'll stick with dogs. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie!
Delete"Bubblegum in the baby's hair," gets me every time ;-)
The boys got a few great videos while hiking in the woods up north. Our girls (dogs) were having a blast in the rivers and streams. I'll try to share sometime - if I can figure out how - ha!
Happy June
Great blog
ReplyDeleteDiedre,
ReplyDeleteI left a comment the other day but I do not see it. Could be in your spam folder? I can't remember what I said but I do remember saying I''m from WV and do not remember the Father's Day tribute to the miners killed. Working in coal mines was really dangerous years ago. I suppose it's safer now but still tragedies happen. Thanks for sharing this bit of history.
Hi Cathy!
DeleteI will definitely check on that. Techno Gizmos drive me nuts.
I've written a few pieces on the affects of mining, including family hardships and ghost towns. It's common fodder, here in Az ;-) But I had yet to run across the Father's Day tribute until this month. I wasn't surprised since it sounds like something a mining community would do.
Glad you stopped by!