Valentine's Day
History: Saint Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) (Feb. 14). Originally the Roman feast of Lupercalia, it was Christianized in memory of the martyr St. Valentine (d. A.D. 270). In the Middle Ages, Valentine became associated with the union of lovers under conditions of duress. Today the holiday is celebrated with the exchange of romantic or comic messages called "valentines."
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion
valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second
largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards
are sent for Christmas.) Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are
purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is
celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. |
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated
around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century,
it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange
small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century,
printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in
printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to
express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings
was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in
the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably
began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s,
Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in
America.
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