Father’s Day has been celebrated for well over 100 years now, since 1908, to be exact. The first known Father’s Day was on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. In present day, Father’s Day is determined by the third Sunday of June. Father’s Day began by a grieving daughter over her dad who had passed away in 1896. She also thought this service would be a good idea considering in the previous year, about 1,000 children were left fatherless from the worst mining disaster to take place in U.S. history that occurred only a few miles from Fairmont. This was the first known Father’s Day but it did not turn into an annual event.

Throughout the U.S. many people have had similar ideas, but the person to promote this event was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd. She eventually had led Father’s Day to become a national holiday.

Mrs. Dodd first thought of the idea when she was listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day. Her father raised six children alone on his farm since her mother passed away giving birth to the family’s six child. She asked the YMCA to host Father’s Day on June 5^th because that was her father’s birthday. They needed more time to prepare so they decided to celebrate the event on June 19, 1910, which happened to be the third Sunday in June.

For many years, Father’s Day was trying to become a national holiday by congress. At first the bill did not pass. It was not until the year of 1972, that President Richard Nixon signed a law declaring that Father’s Day would be celebrated on the third Sunday of every June.

For myself, it is always hard to find the perfect gift for my dad. I am always stuck with giving him ties, shirts, or outdoor tools. I never wanted to ask my dad what he would like because I wanted him to be surprised. Thankfully for the Penless app, I am able to surprise my dad with a gift he wants. The Penless app has a “wish list” category where he can put down the different gifts he wants, where they are from, and sizes. This not only helps me to find him the perfect gift but also makes it easy knowing what size he is and where I can get the gift.

Hallmark considers Father’s Day to be the fifth largest card giving holiday, that being said, instead of giving your dad an ordinary card like the previous years, switch it up and make your cards personalized. With Penless,  you can personalize the message by making a unique video or attaching a picture. This makes giving the gift more enjoyable since you get to be creative with the Penless message.

“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 (1835-1910)