Think ahead with Promotional Gifts for Fathers Day

Fathers Day this year takes place on the 16th of June, which means you only have a few weeks to stock up on your promotional gifts for the occasion. Fathers Day is celebrated every year, honouring fathers, fatherhood and the influence of fathers in society. It was created to complement Mothers Day, which honours months and motherhood. 

The first Father's Day was believed to have been celebrated in 1908, organised by a lady called Grace Clayton. This was arranged to commemorate the loss of lives of over two hundred fathers in the mining disaster in West Virginia. However, this was originally a one-off event which was not promoted outside of the town.

The first official Fathers Day, as we know it now, took place in 1910, created by Sonora Smart Dodd. Sonora's mother passed away when she was only sixteen years old, meaning she and her five brothers were raised by her father. Sonora wanted a day which would commemorate her fathers work, similar to Mothers Day. As her father not only looked after the family but also worked as a Sergeant during the Civil War, she believed that her father and many others deserved an annual day to celebrate their hard work. 

Fathers Day did not have much success initially and was not promoted during the 1920s, fading into obscurity. However, during the 1930s, the day was celebrated again, raising awareness at a national level. Sonora enlisted the help of trade groups which would benefit the most from the holiday, including manufacturers of ties, pipes and other related gifts. It was believed at first that these groups were simply trying to recreate the commercial success of Mothers Day, however, this didn't stop them from promoting the event. 

It took many years of publicising the event, but by 1972, the American President decided to make it a permanent national holiday for fathers. Since then, every year, many countries across the world celebrate Fathers Day on the third Sunday in June. 

Although the day of celebrating differs across different countries, they are all to celebrate the same event. Fathers Day takes place across the world to celebrate any man who acts as a father figure including Step-Fathers, Grandfathers and even Guardians. 

If you are looking for an effective way of promoting your organisation, then why not consider using Fathers Day?  There are many promotional gifts on the Total Merchandise website which would support and light up any Fathers Day. 

Written by

Total Merchandise | Editoral Team

Our editorial team is drawn from a pool of experienced promotional merchandise product team members, account managers, marketers and other contributors. With such a wide range of skills and experience, they write about many aspects of promotional merchandise, wider marketing and business matters, as well as company news updates.

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