Do you know why we celebrate Father’s Day?

The first ever Father’s Day was celebrated in 1908 but in a far more sombre mood when a church in West Virginia, USA, held a special sermon honouring the 362 men who lost their lives in a mining accident.  They wanted to celebrate all men – especially those who were fathers and gave out red and white flowers to honour both the living and the dead; this was a celebration of all that fathers did for their families and this special service took place on the third Sunday in June.

Britain quickly took to the idea of celebrating Father’s Day in a more positive fashion and adopted the same timing. However, in America it seemed that this celebration was more about the mining accident and the church community didn’t plan to celebrate it again, unlike the UK where the tradition stuck.

If we step back in time to America in 1909, the year after the original ‘Father’s Day’ acknowledgement, a woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd was adamant she would set up an American national Father’s Day, unhappy by the fact that there was a Mother’s Day, but nothing similar for Dads. She petitioned the US government to change this, wanting the date to be on 5th June each year to celebrate her own father’s birthday, honouring his role as a Civil War Veteran who raised his six children after his wife died in childbirth. Due to her commitment to this, the first official Father’s Day was celebrated on the 16th of June 1910.

In contrast, Mothering Sunday is a traditional Christian holiday in the UK and as the premise behind Father’s Day is a lot more modern, it has taken far longer to become acknowledged and be the meaningful celebration that it is today. This is probably due to women being more sentimental, emotional and appreciative of the acknowledgement, gifts and expressions of thanks; male attitudes to emotions were very different back then.

Our UK Father’s day in 2024 coincidentally falls on the 16th of June and we recognise that over the years its popularity has grown, and is a time to show love, respect and appreciation for Fathers everywhere – an abundance of ‘thank you’ gifts, cards, thoughtful gestures and families spending time together throughout the nation.

Here at Zara (Danbury), we want to help you celebrate in style and we are offering a FREE bottle of house wine for every dad dining with us on Father’s Day 2024. Treat him to a sumptuous dinner to get his taste buds tingling and give ‘Dad’s Taxi Service’ some time off for him to enjoy some great wine on us to complement our delicious cuisine and make his special day even more enjoyable.