Celebrating Valentine's Day, a Very Old Tradition

Happy Valentine’s Day! If you are indulging in flowers, chocolate, and greeting cards to your loved ones today, you are not alone, and it’s quite likely that your ancestors did the very same thing. Many of the traditions of this holiday, including its origins, go back hundreds of years and encompass much of the world. Let’s look at some of the more interesting aspects of celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Where did the name come from?

There actually were two (or possibly three) St. Valentines, all of whom were Christians martyred during Roman times, and no one is quite sure which one gave his name to the holiday. Likely, it’s a combination of all of them. The first Valentine was a priest in third century Rome who defied the Emperor Claudius II’s demand to keep soldiers celibate and continued to marry couples in secret. Claudius had that Valentine executed when his activities were discovered. The second Valentine was a bishop in Terni, a city in what is now Italy, and he, too, was murdered by Claudius’s men. (This Valentine may have been the same person as the Roman priest; no one is really sure.) The third Valentine was killed for helping early Christians escape from Roman prisons. He allegedly fell in love with the jailor’s daughter, and, knowing he was to die, sent her a love letter signed “From your Valentine.”

Why do we celebrate in the middle of February?

The most likely reason is because of an attempt by the early Christian church to end pagan rituals. A celebration called Lupercalia was held on the 15th of February. The holiday began the season of renewal, dedicated to Faunus, Roman god of agriculture, and to the founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus. However, the activities of the day included animal sacrifices, dancing naked men, dipping animal hide strips in blood and using them to slap women, and night-long couple pairing, all of which was to ensure fertility of both crops and people for the coming year. By the end of the fifth century, the Pope called an end to this mayhem and declared February 14th to be St. Valentine’s Day. Over time, it was widely accepted that since the French and British believed the 14th to be the official start to birds’ mating season, the day was clearly meant to celebrate love.

When did people start sending Valentine’s cards?

Declarations of love and Valentine’s greetings in written form are found all the way back to the Middle Ages. In fact, many consider medieval British poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, to be one of the first writers of courtly romance. A century later, Shakespeare wrote of St. Valentine’s Day in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It wasn’t until the 1840s that the first Valentine’s Day cards appeared in the United States, and they were fashioned and sold by an enterprising woman named Esther A. Howland. Called the “Mother of the American Valentine,” Esther created handmade cards festooned with lace and ribbons. Ultimately, with improved printing techniques, the Hallmark Company began mass-producing greetings cards in 1913. Today, according to Hallmark, we will exchange about 145 million Valentine’s Day cards.

What about chocolate and flowers?

Chocolate has been associated with romance since the Aztec emperor, Montezuma, chewed cocoa beans to make himself feel more amorous. Chocolate came to be known as the food of the gods and for good reason. It contains serotonin and dopamine, both hormones that can make you feel content and happy. However, it wasn’t until 1861 that British candy-maker Richard Cadbury boxed his chocolates in heart shapes for the holiday, beginning a long-lasting trend. This year, according to the Good Housekeeping website, about thirty-six million heart-shaped boxes will be sold, for a total of about fifty-eight million pounds of chocolate!

As for flowers, giving those as a gesture of love goes back to seventeenth-century Sweden, when King Charles II, brought the idea of a “language of flowers” back to Europe from a trip to Persia. The Victorians took this notion and ran with it. (See our blog from 26 April 2021.) The Victorians are likely our inspiration for red roses being a symbol of everlasting love.

So, however you are spending your Valentine's Day, keep in mind that it is likely your ancestors did nearly the same thing for exactly the same reasons. Some traditions are definitely worth keeping!

Want to read more?

“22 Fascinating Valentine’s Day Facts That Will Probably Surprise You,” by Amanda Hawkins and Hannah Jeon, Good Housekeeping, 9 February 2022

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/valentines-day-ideas/a26863/valentines-day-facts/

“History of Valentine’s Day,” History.com editors, History.com, originally published by A&E Television Networks on 22 December 2009, updated 24 January 2022 

https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2

“It Hasn’t Always Been Chocolates and Roses––the History of Valentine’s Day (Plus, Fun V-Day Facts!), Parade.com, 1 January 2022

https://parade.com/982726/zoeroscoe/valentines-day-history/