Did You Know?

  • Father’s Day was introduced by Sonora Dodd in Spokane, Washington. She wanted to honor her widowed father William Smart who took care of his six children during the Civil War. Since Sonora Dodd was the girl who first started the tradition of Father’s Day in this country, she had campaigned for her Father’s birthday -- June 19 -- to be declared Father’s Day.

  • The first Father’s Day was announced and celebrated in 1910 in the same city where it originated.

  • Father’s Day was first supported by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared the third Sunday of June as the official holiday. It was President Woodrow Wilson who first said, however, in 1916 that Father’s Day should be given the status of a national holiday.

  • Father’s Day is celebrated at different times around the world. In Thailand it falls on Dec. 5; in Australia it’s observed on the first Sunday of September.

  • Greeting cards are the No. 1 purchase on Father’s Day, and almost 92 percent of the cards are sold to women. Most of the greeting cards purchased are humorous (save the mushy stuff for the moms, right?).

  • Almost half as much is spent on Father’s Day gifts as on Mother’s Day. Father's Day PlacematDoes this mean that moms are more expensive? Or is it because the most popular Father’s Day gift is a simple necktie?  

One thing we all know for sure, is that dad likes to EAT.  So treat him to his favorite meal placed on our extra special Father’s Day placemat.  Make him a star for the day (and also, wrap up something for him besides a tie!)