Cheers to the Dads

How Father's Day came to be.

Let’s talk about Father’s Day. A holiday so “necessary” it took 64 years to go legit. And by legit, we mean Nixon signed it into law in 1972—somewhere between ending the draft and not mentioning Watergate.

But before that? Total chaos. The first nod to Father’s Day came in 1908 after hundreds of men died in a mining explosion in West Virginia. A local woman named Grace Clayton wanted to honor the fallen dads. A sweet idea, smothered by poor PR and the fact that the town already had too much going on that weekend.

Then came Sonora Smart Dodd—a true MVP. Her father was a single dad, a Civil War vet, and a man who raised six kids without TikTok or therapy. She pitched the idea in 1909, and by 1910, Spokane was celebrating with lapel roses and Father-focused sermons. Sounds wholesome. Still didn’t catch on.

Why? Because early 20th-century men thought the whole idea was too... soft. A day for gift-giving? Flowers? Feelings? Hard pass. They dismissed it as a Mother’s Day knockoff and a thinly veiled scam by tie salesmen.

Even as President Coolidge and later LBJ gave it a nudge, the holiday limped along until the economy needed a new excuse to sell socks during the Depression and WWII needed an emotional morale boost. Capitalism and patriotism—now those were manly enough.

Fast forward to today: Father’s Day is less about duty and more about dad doing what he wants—usually involving grills, recliners, or aggressively avoiding small talk.

So this June 15, skip the syrupy cards and sentimental tributes. Just hand him a drink, light something good, and maybe let him control the remote for once.

He earned it. Even if it took him half a century to admit it.