Fused Glass for Father’s Day – June 15th
Father’s day is fast approaching so I thought I’d let ya’ll know what types of fused glass that would be perfect for fathers and men in general. Recently I posted a YouTube video about how fused glass isn’t just for women. I just rewatched it and thought I’d include it in this post because it shows several items perfect for Father’s Day. In addition, to fused glass pendants, I have tie tacks, cuff links, key chains, knives, poker guards, and more. Drop me an email (fused_elegance@yahoo.com) if you’d like a custom fused glass piece for your special guy.
I also thought I’d let you know how Father’s Day came about. According to Wikipedia, Father’s Day is a celebration honoring fathers and fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June. Father’s Day was started in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.
The credit for the modern holiday is often given to Sonora Dodd, who was the driving force behind its establishment. Father’s Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA. Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis’ Mother’s Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father’s birthday, the pastors did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.
It did not have much success initially. In the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration because she was studying in the Art Institute of Chicago, and it faded into relative obscurity, even in Spokane. In the 1930s Dodd returned to Spokane and started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level. She had the help of those trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, etc. Since 1938 she had the help of the Father’s Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men’s Wear Retailers. Americans resisted the holiday during a few decades, perceiving it as just an attempt by merchants to replicate the commercial success of Mother’s Day. But the trade groups did not give up: they kept promoting it and they eventually succeeded.
A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father’s Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus “[singling] out just one of our two parents”.]In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the father’s out there. Please let me know if you need a custom fused glass piece for your Dad.
Karen
