Seven Castles

Father's Day

                                      

August 8, 2006

 

Father's Day is a holiday to celebrate fatherhood and parenting by males, just as Mother's Day celebrates motherhood. Typically giving gifts to fathers and celebrating as a family is the main event of the day. In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by selling male-oriented gifts such as hardware and tools.

 

Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd was the driving force behind the establishment of the celebration of Father's Day. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis's efforts to establish Mother's Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father's death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday in June. The first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. In 1966, Lyndon Johnson made Father's Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1972.

 

Father's Day exists almost all over the world to honor and commemorate fathers or forefathers. Countries that observe Father's Day on the third Sunday of June include USA, UK, France, Japan and Singapore. Hong Kong and Macao also celebrate it that day. There are many countries with other celebration dates. It sounds interesting that Taiwan set the day on August 8, as the word for the date is a near-homophone of the word for "father" in Chinese.

 

Father's Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all honored on Father's Day.

 

Many Chinese do not even know such a "festival". As exotic festivals, Christmas Day, Valentine's Day, and even April Fool's Day are far more famous than Father's Day among Chinese. In the eyes of Chinese, mothers are normally amiable, warm, and exquisite, while fathers always seem rational, strict, and introverted.

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年08月8日 星期二 05:23】【 加入博采】【打印】