Wine Gifts Dad Will Love

Dad, Daddy, Dada, Old Man, Pa, Papa, Pop, Pater, Sire – whatever you call him your father needs to be treated on his special day.

While the honouring of fatherhood has been celebrated since the middle ages, with the feast day of Saint Joseph being celebrated as far back as 1508, Father’s Day as we know it is a fairly recent creation of early last century in the USA.

While Mother’s Day was an instant hit, Father’s Day didn’t get the same enthusiasm – perhaps it was thought because “fathers don’t have the same sentimental appeal as mothers have.”

The modern Father’s Day evolved from a mining disaster in 1908 where 362 men had been killed by a coal mine explosion in West Virginia, USA. A grass roots campaign lead to Washington State celebrating the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. While the celebration continued to grow, it was not without it’s detractors. A movement wanted to replace both Mother’s and Father’s Days with a combined Parents’ Day, while others wanted both days scrapped.

It wasn’t until World War II that Father’s Day became entrenched as a means of both honouring the troops and supporting the war effort. It’s place on the calendar was sealed when President Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday in 1972.

The concept of Father’s Day though didn’t catch on initially in Australia, with it often being thought either unnecessary or undermined a father’s assumed “supremacy” as head of the household. The past really was a different place!

It wasn’t until the 1930’s that it was popularly celebrated, and the day was officially designated as the first Sunday in September by the Commonwealth in 1964.

The Father’s Day Council of Australia was established in 1957 and continues to honour distinguished fathers with an annual Australian Father of the Year award. So get your nominations in.

Australian Father’s Day traditions include school crafts of handmade gifts and cards from younger children, taking dad out for lunch, BBQs, and outdoor family activities.

Don’t be part of the crowd – get Dad something he will truly appreciate with one of our exquisite individual wine gifts.