Valentine’s Day. Think about it. An entire social and economic system of dances, chocolate, jewelry, naughty gifts, and more tied to one day. People spend hours (okay minutes for you procrastinators) agonizing over how best to demonstrate their love for their significant other. Those without partners convince themselves that the perfect Valentine’s Day gesture will magically move them out of the ‘friend zone.’
Valentine’s Day or the Feast of St. Valentine was established in 496. Pope Gelasius set the day aside to commemorate two martyrs named Valentine. The first St. Valentine was executed in 269 for ministering to imprisoned Christians in Rome. Legend says he cured his jailer’s daughter of blindness just before his execution. Martyred during the persecution of 273, the Bishop of Terni became the second St. Valentine. The faithful venerate relics from each saint in Rome and Terni respectively.
Martyr’s Bones to Love?
One theory posits the Christian adaptation of a pagan festival. In this case the Roman festival of Lupercalia celebrated from 13-15 February. While the dates match, the festival was only loosely connected to fertility. Also, nearly a thousand years passed from the last Lupercalia celebration to first romantic connection found in Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls in 1382. This work contains references to birds mating or “lovebirds,” which remains a romantic reference.
A quick science aside here. The Julian calendar year is ~11 minutes longer than the actual year. So, Valentine’s Day in 1382 was ~9 days closer to spring. That timing matches the beginning of the birds’ mating season.
Over the following centuries the connection between romantic love and Valentine’s Day grew. The oldest surviving Valentine’s poem comes from the French Duke of Orleans. Captured at the Agincourt in 1415 he wrote to his wife from prison in London. By 1600 even Shakespeare’s Ophelia regretfully mentions Valentine’s Day.
What’s with the Gifts?
Over the centuries the association and its celebration grew. In the 18th century books of suggested romantic verses were available to aid the tongue-tied lover. By the mid-19th century, hand-written notes gave way to pre-printed cards. In 1868 Cadbury created the first heart-shaped box of chocolates. Not to be outdone, jewelers and florists quickly joined the love bonanza. If none of those fit your needs, you can choose between stuffed animals, dinners, e-cards, personalized music mixes, and so on. The average American spends nearly $150 on Valentine gifts.
This commercialization brings us to our featured map courtesy of Estately.
Which of these gifts surprises you the most? Which ones make you cringe? Have any of them made you reevaluate your opinion of a state. I’m thinking of Tennessee here.
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
Note to Pay the Bills: None of the books in the Misaligned Series features a heavy dose of Valentine’s Day, but they do feature two young teens, Penny and Duncan, struggling to save the world from myth tied to theoretical physics. How does that work in a Young Adult fantasy series? Learn more by reading a summary of the series here. Find links to purchase books here.
How do you come up with your MAP information??? What a piece of history here!!
I must say, my budget is WELL below the average. This year it’s a card from the Dollar Store. (That’s OK, because the card she’s giving me is also from the Dollar Store). I think the most romantic think I ever did was to give my wife a present each day for 25 days before our 25th anniversary. Every man at the office threatened me if I ever let their wife know what I had done. On day 11, I gave her a box of candy (12 pieces) with 1 piece removed.
I’ve been closer to your camp as well. When we were dating I had a tree planted in her name. The plan was to ask her to marry me under the tree – it came with a map. It didn’t quite work out that way. That said, I prefer to offer gifts on non-obligatory days. My view is that those show more thought and appreciation. As for the info for the maps, I do a decent amount of reading. Honestly, the hardest part is making edits and cuts. That process was the main reason I switched from weekly to the first Monday of the month. As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
PS 11 pieces of chocolate – now that’s creative