Happy Father’s Day !!
Father’s Day In Nottingham
By Colwick Hall.
We celebrate Father’s Day every year in Nottingham and the UK, but have you ever wondered how it all began and what led to these celebrations of the Father figure?
In the UK, as well as in many other places worldwide, Father’s Day takes place in June on the third Sunday of the month. In other parts of Catholic Europe, it has been celebrated on 19th March and began back in the Middle Ages, around either the latter years of the 14th century or the early years of the 15th century. In fact, it shares its date with that of St. Joseph’s Day. Saint Joseph is considered to be the fatherly ‘Nourisher of the Lord’ and the Father of Jesus.
This tradition then moved to America after being taken there during the 20th century by the Spanish and Portuguese. There is disagreement over how it exactly began. One theory is that the first ‘Father’s Day’ event took place in West Virginia in 1908 as an honouring of hundreds of men, and Fathers, who had been killed in a mining disaster in Monongah. The event largely went unnoted and many other attempts to hold Father’s Day celebrations were dismissed.
The other theory is that in 1910, Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd wanted to honour her Father who had raised six children on his own as a single parent and veteran. The first day dedicated to Fathers was then held on 19th June. However, regardless of where it began, many presidents wanted to bring it into the national consciousness permanently.
Father’s Day becomes US law
Eventually, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson managed to issue the first presidential address in which he honoured fathers, and designated a specific day to be Father’s Day. It became a permanent national holiday six years on, when President Richard Nixon wrote this into law in 1972.
It is thought that the notion of Father’s Day first entered the UK sometime after the second world war and wasn’t met with any opposition. Advertisers during the war had been arguing that celebrating Father’s Day was a way of honouring the troops and supporting the war effort. By the time the war had ended, it was widely recognised and celebrated as a time to show appreciation and support for your Father, or the man who has fathered your children.
Father’s Day has become significantly commercialised.
While the date varies across the world, the notion of what it aims to achieve is typically the same as in the UK. Germany celebrates it slightly differently, in that it is known as Männertag or Men’s Day and enables men to get drunk on beer and eat lots of regional food.
Hallmark, the makers of greetings cards, claim that Father’s Day is the fifth largest holiday for sending cards. Meanwhile, the rose has become associated with the occasion – a red rose is symbolic of a living father, while a white rose is a sign of a deceased Dad. The most popular gift is a tie, although there are many different creative ways of celebrating your Father nowadays, including a dinner or meal, or an exciting day out. It’s a great time to show your Dad that you care.
Here, at Colwick Hall, we can’t wait to help you celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday 17th June and have lined up a superb treat for Dads and Grandads. We get one day every year to make sure we make them feel extra special, so of course nothing but amazing will do!
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