Fathers Day Council Facts

The Fathers Day Council of New York gives us these facts and figures:

• There are 80 million fathers in America today. Of these, about 1.5 are single fathers.
• The average number of gifts per dad on Fathers Day is 2.5, with a combined value of $70. Very few dads get more than 10 gifts on Fathers day.
• Sportswear for men was “invented” in the 1940s.
• Together with the growing national popularity of Fathers’ Day, it gave mothers “social permission” to dress dad “the way she wanted him to look in her fantasies.”
• On Fathers Day, 80 million pounds of beef are consumed on picnics and barbecues, and 100 million cards are mailed.

On the Father Front, Spring, 1993, p. 1