So, the time of February 14th is not far off again. Christmas is over and a lot of people are still in debt, however it’s now time to start getting those pennies together for your loved ones gifts (unless you never want to here the end of it!) including chocolates, wine, champagne and flowers.
To me personally, Valentine’s Day is not my favourite day. Why do you have to dedicate just one day out of the year to show someone that you really “love” them? Wouldn’t it just make more sense to buy chocolate gifts, champagne and wine or send cards to your girl or boyfriend, or even someone that you like at intervals throughout the year?
I asked someone in our office, what do you think about Valentine’s Day?
My colleague (a female) made a face and then proceeded to give me an hundred reasons as to why she despises the 14th Feb, including things such rationale as commercialism, a “waste of time” and a day for people not in relationships to feel small! I can see her point, but there’s a date to celebrate mothers, fathers and grandparents for example, why shouldn’t there be a day to celebrate your loved one too?! Even if you’re not in a relationship though, 14th February is also known as National Singles Awareness Day so, why not dedicate the day to you and treat yourself?
I wanted to understand the history behind why Valentine’s Day is celebrated and where the day came from, but in all frankness there doesn’t seem to be one “story” that fits. So, I have combined a few different legends from my research to perhaps give an idea of where and when the day originated.
Since the 3rd Century, St. Valentine has become the saint of romantic causes. Valentine was a priest who supposedly agreed to conduct marriages in secret, because the Emperor of Rome of the time, Claudius II had posed a ban on marriages for single young men, because he felt that single men made better soldiers than men who were married with wives and children. St. Valentine realised the injustice of the ruling and consequently took matters into his own hands, and carried out marriages in secret until February 4, 207, when he was found out and promptly executed. St Valentine’s Day is celebrated in memory therefore of Valentine’s death. In this legend, Valentine had fallen in love (perhaps with his jailor’s daughter) and sent her a note or a love poem just before his execution, signed, “From your Valentine”. This saying has become the catch phrase that we use today on card, gifts and banners.
Another version of events includes the notion that during the Middle Ages, in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February, Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.
In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated through the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was usual for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection, gifts or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace the hand-written letters due to progression 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.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all styles of gifts, usually from a man to a woman. Such gifts typically include chocolates and roses presented in a red satin, heart-shaped box. In the 1980s, the diamond and jewellery industry began to promote Valentine’s Day. February 14th has come to be related to the generic friendly greeting of “Happy Valentine’s Day.” For the singletons among us February 14th is affectionately referred to as National Singles Awareness Day.
Don’t be disheartened this 14th February, whether you’re in a relationship, whether you’re single or you like someone, get a card and a gift to celebrate, whether it be chocolates, flowers, champagne or wine for him, for her or even for yourself.
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