A deep dive behind Valentine’s Day
By Amanda Ross
What is the truth behind Valentine’s Day? It’s that time of year, so if you’re coupled up share this post with your partner and learn something new! If you’re single, you should still read this so you can bother the sappy and romantic people in your life with some history!
The most notable meaning behind Valentine’s Day has to do with Saint Valentine. However, during this time, historians found 12-14 Valentines this could be about. Two of these Valentines are most memorable though, with one being killed because he refused to worship Roman Gods, and he wrote a letter to a woman (who’s blindness he healed apparently???) signed “your Valentine” before being executed. The other Valentine was executed because he married couples against his emperor’s orders, since he believed unmarried men made better soldiers.
While the exact origin of Valentine’s Day is a bit fuzzy, one place to start is ancient Rome. The Romans’ celebrated something called “Lupercalia” from February 13th-15th. This involved sacrificing animals and then hitting women with those animals because it would make the women fertile. There was also a lot of nudity and alcohol present. Then a man and woman would couple up at random during the festivities. This doesn’t seem all that romantic, but eventually this celebration became more of a way to celebrate St. Valentine.
Another theory historians have is about poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer wrote “Parlement of Foules” and “The Complaint of Mars,” these were referred to as romantic poems and referenced St. Valentine. Though apparently, there wasn’t much actual connection between romance and St. Valentine, Chaucer just believed Valentine was a nice sounding name and brought poetic appeal (it was also a popular name, hence the number of Valentines mentioned earlier). Shakespeare even went on to reference Valentine in his plays.
Once the traditions of Valentine’s Day made its way to us during the Industrial Revolution, Hallmark began their surge in factory made cards for it, hence the “Hallmark Holiday” meaning. However, before Hallmark there was Esther Howland, “Cupid’s Capitalist” or “The Mother of the American Valentine.” Howland was given a Valentine (imported from Europe, as most Americans couldn’t afford them) and believed she could make them better. She went on to make cards for nearly any occasion. Also, she hired mostly women who were paid well and worked from home! It’s too bad she started the capitalistic part of the holiday.
The history behind this holiday is strange, but it’s bittersweet that it brought forth romantic traditions internationally. In Japan, women are the ones who gift men with chocolate, flowers, and other assorted gifts. The holiday is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but there is a black market for flowers and chocolate during February. In Slovenia, it’s believed that birds propose and then marry one another on Valentine’s Day. Everyone celebrates their love uniquely, and it’s been interesting to see how love truly was the pinpoint of it all, just in some strange ways.
The Deadline 