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FATHER'S DAY LEGENDS AND ODDITIES

A Celebration in Honor of all Fathers
Father's Day is a day of commemoration and celebration of Dad. It is a day to not only honor your father, but all men who have acted as a father figure in your life - whether as Stepfathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, or "Big Brothers."

It is a time of burnt toast and breakfast in bed, family gatherings, crayon scribbled "I Love you" and, of course, that lovely new tie!

So buckle up, turn up the radio and get ready for a Father's Day ride with some fun Holiday things for you, your family, and your Dad.

We've got stories to read, music to enjoy, puzzles and games to play, pictures for the kids to color, and a chance to honor YOUR DAD at our celebration! So bring your kids and tell your friends. And please stop by again.

Click "Golfer" Cartoon to view Funny Father's Day Cards!

The Story of Father's Day
Father's Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a "father's day" was first proposed there were no Father's Day cards!

Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington State. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a "father's day." In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.

Father's Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all honored on Father's.

Click "Father's Day" Cartoon to view Funny Father's Day Cards!

Quotes About Dad

• "A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." -Enid Bagnold
• "It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all." -Alice Walker
• "None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world-so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don't be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal." -Victoria, Queen of England
• "That is the thankless position of the father in the family-the provider for all, and the enemy of all." -J. August Strindberg
• "It is a wise father that knows his own child." -William Shakespeare
• "It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was." -Anne Sexton
• "One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." -English Proverb
• "To be a successful father . . . there's one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years." -Ernest Hemingway
• "A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father." -Gabriel García Márquez
• "I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -Sigmund Freud
• "I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example." -Mario Cuomo
• "Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young,
  Who loved thee so fondly as he? He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, And joined in thy innocent glee." -Margaret Courtney
• "It's only when you grow up, and step back from him, or leave him for your own career and your own home—it's only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it. Pride reinforces love." -Margaret Truman
• "Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" -Lydia M. Child
• "A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father." -Gabriel García Márquez
• "For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers." -Homer
• "If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right." -Bill Cosby
• When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. -Mark Twain, in "Bringing Up Father," Reader's Digest, September 1937
• "A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties. A father can do neither. If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma." - Marlene Dietrich
  

Father's Day in the United States
1910 Spokane, Washington celebrated the first Father's Day.
1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
1926 The formation of National Father's Day Committee in New York City.
1956 Father's Day was recognized by Joint Resolution of Congress.
1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring that the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.
1972 President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday in June.

Note: Father's Day is celebrated in every part of the world. In the United States, Canada and most countries in Asia, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

For the love of Dads
He was there for your first step, your first fall and you can count on him to be there when you need him next. Your biggest hero deserves your biggest thanks. Take a look at our special fun Father's Day Cards.

Suggestions on making Father's Day Special

• Make dad breakfast in bed.
• Send a fun and special Father's day Card.
• Send him flowers, the red rose is the official Father's Day flower.
• Do secret acts of kindness, this might include doing one of dad's chores for him, like taking out the garbage.
• Be obedient.
• Wash his car.
• Golf or play hoops with day.
• Help daddy feed the baby.
• Do your chores, without being asked.
• Get along with your brothers and sisters.
• Milk the cow, rake the leaves, mow the grass or whatever might please dad.
• Make or take him out to dinner.
• Have a Father's Day BBQ or picnic.
• Make a crown for dad and let him know he's "King" for the day
• Pay him back the money you borrowed.
• Make sure your dad is given the "Royal Treatment".
• Hug dad!

 


Click "Busy Dad" to view Funny Father's Day Cards!

 

Father's Day Jokes and One-Liners

• My Dad thinks he wears the trousers in our house, but it's always Mum who tells him which pair to put on!
• I started early teaching my kids the value of a dollar. From then on, they demanded their allowances in gold.
• Do fathers always snore? No - only when they are asleep!
• One time my kids wanted to surprise me with a good breakfast in bed on Father's Day. They put a cot in the kitchen.
• If you think about it, Adam had more trouble than any of the rest of us buying his Father a gift for Father's Day. I mean, what do you get somebody who's Everything?
• After the church service a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear Ol' Dad Say

10. Well, how 'bout that? I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions.

9. You know Pumpkin, now that you're thirteen, you'll be ready for non-chaperoned car dates. Won't that be fun?

8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain hostile attitude. I like that.

7. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car. GO CRAZY!!

6. What do you mean you wanna play football? Figure skating's not good enough for you, son?

5. Your Mother and I are going away for the weekend. You might want to consider throwing a party.

4. Well, I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies--ya know--that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks.

3. No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring. Now quit your belly-aching, and let's go to the mall.

2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.

1. What do I want for my birthday? Aahh -- don't worry about that. It's no big deal. (Okay, they might say it. But they don't mean it)

Happy Father's Day
A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the center of the bed. It was addressed, "Dad".  With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Joan and she is so nice even with all her piercing, tattoos and her tight motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion dad, she's pregnant and Joan said that we will be very happy. Even though you don't care for her as she is so much older than I, she already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter.

She wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too. Joan taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and trading it with her friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want! In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Joan can get better; she sure deserves it!!

Don't worry Dad. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your son,

Benjamin

P. S.  Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbor's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk center drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.

"Whew! That was a tough one!" -Says, Caddylak Maxy.

Sources: holidays.net, wilstar.com/holidays, billybear4kids.com, twilightbridge.com, kidsdomain.com and Carol Phillips e-mails.

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"Thank you to all who submitted Father's Day facts, legends and funny stories. Keep sending us Father's Day information and we'll keep putting 'em up on this Father's Day Legends & Oddities page and give you all the credit!" -Says, Caddylak Maxy

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Father's Day Legends And Oddities is constantly being updated.
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Last Updated: Saturday May 31, 2008 1:47 P.M.

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