Bay Of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, SEPT. 2, 1949 FATHERS’ DAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 33, 2 September 1949, Page 4

Bay Of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, SEPT. 2, 1949

FATHERS’ DAY

September 4 is “Fathers’ Day.”

All efforts to trace its origin seem to lead back to some bright and unidentifiable advertising man, probably an American. Though Mothers’ Day had a firmly established background originating from a Church idea of setting aside a day to pay tribute to the hand that rocks the cradle, in this country at any rate Fathers’ Day was unheard of twenty years ago. Then it began to seep into retail advertising, largely probably through- the influence of American advertising services designed to meet the needs of various trades and boost their business.

The idea took en, as indeed t should.

Through the medium of welldirected propaganda, Pop gradually became, for one day at least, something a little more than a presumably inexhaustible source of cash and the machine that pushed the lawnmower. Members of the family started to realise he had a sentimental value, rating almost as high as the cat.

He became, in fact, quite important. Daughters started to take a speculative look at the man who ordered them-to keep their fingers out of the jam in early girlhood and kicked the boy friend off the back porch in their adolescence. They started wondering what he would consider nice in ties or socks.

That led, naturally, to a somewhat revised attitude. They started to see or to wonder—according to how" he struck their awakened consciousness—just why Mum married him. Having formed the opinion it was because he was a pretty decent sort of a chap or because his wallet was well-lined, they looked over the ads again. Sons caught the bug.

After all, even if the old lad were not always ready to fork out the odd half-note, it could possibly be because fathers themselves were human after all, and. heirs to all the human failings—perhaps including occasional lack of cash. Anyway, he did have the decency to barrack for their football teams sometimes, though his criticism at home might lack tact. Sure, Dad had his points and, after all, he did drag in the family income.

So they, looked Up the ads, too, in shame-faced privacy. Mum got it, too/ She’d concentrated for years on the kids, the cooking and the washing. And it hadn’t been easy in all cases. But now it snapped into her tired head that -without Father there wouldn’t have beefi any kids and without hrs cash no food to cook and no clothes to wash. '

She remembered he used to be a pretty big shot in her eyes

once, and they got a bit misty when she thought about it. So she purloined a few shekels out of the beer money in the hip pocket of his Saturday pants and took a look at the ads to see what she could buy him with it. To anyone who claims advertising makes no worthwhile contribution to human happiness, Fathers’ Day is the complete answer.