Hi everyone,

 

I'd like to thank Milton and Brian Kalnitz for being my May Pipe Makers of the Month. They were my first father and son team. Remember to visit their web site at: www.smokershavenwny.com 

  

I should have used my father and son team this month in honor of Father's Day. Speaking of Father's Day, I did a little research on how it got started here in the states and abroad. Here is some interesting facts from a few countries and their different takes on this holiday.

 

Brazil

 

In Brazil Father's Day is celebrated 3 months after Mother's Day, on the second Sunday of August. A publicist Sylvio Bhering in the mid-1950s selected the date in honor of Saint Joachim, patriarch of family (as well as the Catholic day of godfathers).

 

Canada

 

In Canada, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and is not a public holiday. Father's Day typically involves spending time with one's father or the father figures in one's life. Small celebrations and the giving of gifts may be part of the festivities organized for Father's Day.

 

Denmark

 

In Denmark, Father's Day is celebrated on June 5. It coincides with Constitution Day, which is a public holiday.

 

Germany

 

In Germany, Father's Day (Vatertag) is celebrated differently from other parts of the world. It is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called men's day, Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition, especially in the north and east of the country but much less so in the south and west, for groups of males (young and old but usually excluding pre-teenage boys) to do a hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food,  Hausmannskost.  Many men use this holiday as an opportunity to get drunk.

 

United Kingdom

 

Father's Day in the United Kingdom is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

 

United States of America

 

In the US, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. It's first celebration was in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910. Other festivities honoring fathers had been held in Fairmont and in Creston, but the modern holiday did not emerge from those.

 

Modern Father's Day was invented by Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Arkansas, who was also the driving force behind its establishment. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who reared his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis's efforts to establish Mother's Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.

 

To check out more about Fathers Day here is a link:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father's_Day#Canada

 

Needless to say, I think we can all agree that the German's have the best idea, or at least the most fun.