International Friendship Day is a day used to celebrate friendship. The day has been celebrated in several southern South Americancountries for many years, particularly in Paraguay, where the first World Friendship Day was proposed in 1958.
Initially created by the greeting cards industry, evidence from social networking sites shows a revival of interest in the holiday that may have grown with the spread of the Internet, particularly in India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. Digital communication modes such as the Internet and mobile phones may be helping to popularize the custom, since greeting friends en masse is now easier than before. Those who promote the holiday in South Asia attribute the tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends to have originated in the U.S. in 1935, but it actually dates from 1919.The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.
Friendship Day celebrations occur on different dates in different countries. The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July 1958. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day. However, some countries, including India, celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August.
History
Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1919, and intended on first sunday of august to be a day where people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. The first Sunday in August was chosen as the centre of the largest lull in holiday celebrations. Friendship Day was promoted by the greetings card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance - given that it was rather too obviously a commercial gimmick to promote greetings cards. By the 1940s the number of Friendship Day cards available in the US had dwindled and the holiday largely died out there. There is no evidence to date for its uptake in Europe, however it has been kept alive and revitalised in Asia where several countries adopted the tradition of dedicating a day to friends. Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically celebrated in a number of countries across the world.
In honor of Friendship Day in 1998, Nane Annan, wife of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh as the world's Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations. The event was co-sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public Information and Disney Enterprises, and was co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford.
Many friends acknowledge each other with exchange of gifts and cards on this day. Friendship bands are very popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of South America.With the advent of social networking sites, friendship day is also being celebrated online.The commercialization of the Friendship Day celebrations has led to some dismissing it as a "marketing gimmick".But Nowadays it is celebrated on First Sunday Of August, Dropping the 30th July Celebration.
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