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Valentine’s Day is the number one day in much of world for all things romantic.  This can be anything from first dates to marriage proposals to weddings.  However, in spite of its boon for gift clubs of the month or monthly flower clubs, this once sacred holiday has its roots in an ancient past.

The First Three Valentines

The first Valentine’s Days did not honor romantic love, but spiritual martyrdom.  There were at least three Christian martyrs named Valentine who were honored on February 14th.  Between them they represent areas as far flung as Rome and Africa.  However, over a millennium passed between their deaths and any sort of link with human romance.

Isn’t It Romantic

In putting together several unsubstantiated legends, the following picture emerges that connects a Saint Valentine to romantic love:

The Roman Emperor Claudius II ordered his soldiers not to marry so that they would be more committed to fighting.  St. Valentine defied the emperor by secretly marrying the soldiers to their sweethearts.  When he was caught, Valentine was sent to prison.  While there, he healed his jailor’s daughter from blindness.  Later, on the night before his execution, he sent her a parting note of farewell and signed it, ”From your Valentine.”

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Another connection between February 14 and romance comes from the Roman fertility festival, Lupercalia, which was celebrated on February 13-15.  However, Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem Parlement of Foules is our oldest reference to love and Valentine’s Day.  In it he writes, "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."

Love across the Years and Miles

While there are other references to Valentine’s Day in art and literature, including Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it remained for the Victorians to really raised celebrating Valentine’s Day to its modern heights.  During this ear factories were established for the express purpose of mass producing paper valentines.  Also, those with the time and money took great pleasure in assembling their own love tokens out of colored paper, ribbons and lace.  

Esther Howland, the daughter of an American stationer, brought the English custom to America in the mid- 19th century when she began creating and marketing Valentines created from imported paper lace and flowers.  Her mass produced cards soon replaced handwritten notes of affection and marked the beginning of the modern greeting card industry in the United States

Not Just for Lovers Anymore

By the middle of the 20th century, Valentine’s Day had become the western world’s largest non-religious holiday.  In addition to notes, flowers and candy exchange by lovers, school children began exchanging Valentines with friends and classmates.  In fact, there were several decades in which the Valentine post office was a fixture of the February lesson plan for elementary school teachers.

By the turn of the recent century, parents were expected to buy gifts not just for their spouses but for their children as well.  Mass marketing created a situation where Valentine’s Day gifts became nearly as important as those received for Christmas or birthdays.  It is not wonder, then, that the American Greeting Card industry gives an award each year in honor of Esther Howland, for her contribution in establishing yet another multi-million dollar industry.

About the Author

Like many women, Melissa Cameron is a hopeless romantic and looks forward to giving and receiving Valentines and gifts each year.

This article on the "History of Valentine's Day" reprinted with permission.