THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY
By Annee Jones
My new historical western romance, Ruby's Choice, is based on the history of Valentine's Day. How did the annual custom of exchanging handmade cards and other tokens of affection on February 14 originate? The truth
is that no one really knows all the details, but it appears that the holiday is based on a combination
of factual information as well as legend and ancient myth.
The
Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or
Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One story goes that in the third century in Rome, Emperor Claudius II
outlawed marriage for young men because he decided that single men made better
soldiers on the battlefield. A priest
named Valentine disagreed and defied the emperor by performing marriage
ceremonies for young lovers in secret.
When his actions were discovered, Claudius had him beheaded.
Others
believe that Pope Gelasius I designated Valentine’s Day as a holiday to replace
the pagan festival of Lupercalia which was a celebration of fertility dedicated
to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunas, and the mythological founders of Rome,
twin brothers Romulus and Remus. Roman
priests would make an animal sacrifice – typically a goat – and then go through
the streets touching the blood-soaked hides to young single women, believing
that this custom would make them fertile.
Following the ritual, the women’s names were placed in a jar and the
city’s bachelors would draw them at random to make a match.
Another
legend has it that a Catholic priest named Valentine was imprisoned by the Roman
emperor and during his confinement he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter
who came to visit him. It is said that
he wrote the first “valentine” himself because he wrote her a letter before his
death and signed it, “From Your Valentine.”
Still
other researchers believe that the true namesake of the holiday was Saint
Valentine of Terni, a bishop – who was also beheaded by Claudius II. Although most of the facts that underlie
these legends remain largely unknown, as you can see, each of these tales emphasizes
that the character of the person named Valentine was sympathetic, moral, and heroic
– in other words, romantic.
The
idea that the middle of February was a time of romance arose during the Middle
Ages. In England and France, February 14
was considered the beginning of birds’ mating season. This is where the term “lovebirds” comes from.
The
English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a
day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, “For
this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose
his mate.”
It
is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate in the 1400s to
compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
Common
symbols of Valentine’s Day include hearts, doves, roses, and an impish naked cherub
named Cupid who supposedly launches invisible arrows of love at people to make
them fall in love. The Roman God Cupid
has roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros. According to the
ancient Greek poets, Eros was handsome immortal who toyed with the emotions of
Gods and men. He used golden arrows to
sow love but traded them for leaden ones when he to incite aversion.
By
the middle of the 18th century, it became common for friends and
lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or
handwritten loves notes on St. Valentine’s Day. In 1797, a British publisher
issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, a book containing scores of suggested
sentimental lines and poetry for the young lover unable to compose his own.
Postal
reforms in the mid-1800s, including the invention of the postage stamp, made it
possible to mail love notes rather than giving them to one’s object of
affection in person, or asking someone else to give it to them. This made it even more possible to send
greetings anonymously – hence giving rise to the “secret admirer.”
In the United States, people began exchanging
hand-made valentines in the early 1700s.
In the 1840s, a woman named Esther A. Howland (1828–1904) in Massachusetts
began making elaborate greeting cards with lace, ribbons and colorful pictures
called “scrap.” She was inspired by an English valentine she had received from
a British business associate of her father, who owned a large stationery and
bookstore. At first, Ms. Howland imported
her art supplies from England, but then began experimenting on her own with
designs and materials. Her father was
able to mass-produce her finished creations, which she then sold. In 1847, her business sold the first
mass-produced valentines in America. Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has honored
exceptional greeting card designers with an annual "Esther Howland Award
for a Greeting Card Visionary.”
Other
Fun Facts:
1. In
2020, approximately 27.6 million American households gave Valentine's Day
presents to their pet dogs, and more than 17.1 million bought gifts for their
cats.
2. The
Valentine's Day gift that people spend the most on is jewelry – in 2020, people
spent $5.8 billion in jewelry for the holiday according to the National Retail
Federation.
3. The
first heart-shaped box of chocolates was introduced in 1861 by Richard Cadbury,
the son of John Cadbury, the company’s founder, who started packaging his chocolates
in fancy decorative boxes to increase sales.
4. Today,
more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold each year. (That’s 58 million pounds of chocolate!)
5. Ever
wonder where those conversation heart candies came from? A Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase
invented a machine that simplified the way medical lozenges for sore throats
were made. The result was America's
first candy-making machine, since Mr. Chase shortly after inventing it shifted
his focus from making medical lozenges to candy. He founded the New England Confectionery
Company (NECCO), and the candies became known as Necco wafers.
6. In
1866, Oliver's brother, Daniel Chase, started printing sentimental messages on
the Necco sweethearts, though these candies were bigger than the versions we
have today — and featured much longer printed sayings and phrases. Some of the first messages included: "Married in white you have chosen
right" and "How long shall I have to wait? Please be considerate.
7. 6
million couples get engaged annually on February 14.
8. Today,
according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million
Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second
largest card-sending holiday of the year (the first is Christmas).
9. The
origins of the signature “XOXO” (hugs and kisses) arose in the Middle Ages,
according to the Washington Post. During
those times the “X” symbolized the Christian cross. It became common for people to end their
letters with the sign of the cross and an “O” as a kiss signifying an oath. XOXO came to mean “sealed with a kiss.”
10.International
Quirkyalone Day is an international holiday for single people on February 14.
The holiday isn't an anti-Valentine's Day event, but rather a moment to
celebrate self-love and platonic relationships. International Quirkyalone Day has been
celebrated globally since 2003.
Sources for this
Article:
https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
https://www.countryliving.com/life/a46353/history-of-valentines-day/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/valentines-day-ideas/a26863/valentines-day-facts/
20-year-old Ruby Gale has a secret. After all, unmarried women in 1895 can't be too careful. Especially when it comes to matters of business - not to mention the human heart.
After the untimely deaths of their parents at a young age, Ruby is grateful for her older brother Simon, a prominent attorney in the small town of Divine, CO, for caring for her during her formative years. However, now that she's reached 20 years of age and is looking towards marriage, Ruby wishes he could see her as the woman she's become instead of the child she once was. Eager to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, Ruby agrees to invest in a greeting card business with several of the other ladies she knows in town.
Valentine’ Day is just around the corner, so the timing couldn’t be better. However, because some of the married ladies suspect their husbands may not welcome the idea of their wives working, it’s decided that the card-marking activity will take place under the guise of tea parties to avoid suspicion.
The talk amongst the unwed members of the group - including Ruby - soon turns to prospective beaus and secret crushes and suddenly unsigned valentines begin showing up in the hands of the most eligible bachelors all over town. Rumors and speculations abound, and everyone thinks they know who’s sweet on who. Suddenly, Ruby not only has to sort out the identities of the secret admirers, but also answer the question of which man to give her own heart - and why.
About Me:
Annee Jones is a heartwarming romance and soon-to-be cozy mystery author who enjoys sharing her heart and imagination with others. She is passionate about writing stories that offer readers a place where dreams come true!
Professionally, Annee works as a disability counselor where she helps her clients navigate through complex medical and legal systems while rediscovering their wholeness in Spirit.
Annee also enjoys freelance writing for Publishers Weekly and multiple publishing companies.
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