Americans have celebrated Father’s Day for over a century. It all started in 1910 in Spokane, Washington with 27-year-old Sonora Dodd’s desire to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. He was a widower who raised six children on his own. After hearing a sermon on Mother’s Day, she began her campaign to make Father’s Day an officially recognized holiday.
Later that year, on June 19, Father’s Day was celebrated for the first time. Sixty-two years later, President Richard Nixon made it a federal holiday.
Today about three-quarters of Americans celebrate “dad” on his special day and they “are expected to spend an average $125.92 for the holiday, up from last year’s $115.57,” according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) who has been conducting its annual Father’s Day survey since 2003.
This Year The “Total Spending Is Expected To Reach $14.3 Billion, The Highest In The Survey’s 13-Year History But Still Below This Year’s Mother’s Day Total Of $21.4 Billion.”