More than 4,000 years ago, a young Babylonian named Elmesu is said to have carved a message for his father into a clay tablet, wishing him health and a long life.
Though not a Father’s Day message as we know it today, it certainly represents a seemingly innate desire to honour those who raised us. The modern Father’s Day tradition, however, is a much more recent invention.
While Mother’s Day had already begun gaining popularity in the United States, the idea of a dedicated day celebrating dads took longer to cement. The first known Father’s Day service took place on 5 July 1908 at a church in Fairmont, West Virginia, honouring the 362 men killed in the previous December’s explosions at the Monongah coal mines. A solemn memorial rather than a celebration, and it did not immediately become an annual event.
But the movement gained momentum the following year thanks to Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington. One of six children raised by a widower, Dodd believed fathers deserved the same recognition that mothers were receiving and so approached churches, businesses, the YMCA and government officials to build some support. And she sure succeeded. On 19 June 1910, Washington State held America’s first statewide Father’s Day celebration.
The tradition slowly spread – though not without controversy. In the 1920s and 1930s, some campaigners argued that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day should be replaced with a single Parents’ Day, believing both parents should be honoured together. Public rallies were held in support of the idea, but the movement failed to gain momentum.
The Great Depression played a significant role in the commercialisation of the day as struggling retailers promoted it as an opportunity to buy gifts for dads, then the second world war added a patriotic element to the celebration with advertisers encouraging Americans to use the occasion to honour fathers serving in the military.
The first Father’s Day in Aotearoa took place at Auckland’s St Matthew’s Church on 14 July 1926, with the first commercial advertising for gifts published in the Auckland Star the following year.
Today, Father’s Day is celebrated around the world, although not always on the same date. In many Catholic countries, including Italy and Spain, fathers have traditionally been honoured on 19 March – St Joseph’s Day – celebrating Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, a feast that dates back more than a thousand years. In 1935, Australia moved its celebration to the fist Sunday of September, and New Zealand followed.
Whatever the date, and wherever the celebration, the sentiment remains unchanged since that 4,000-year-old clay tablet was first carved – a mark of appreciation for the men that have helped shape our lives.
