14 things you might not know about Valentine’s Day

THANKS to Wikipedia, History, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, etc., for fun facts about Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is a highly successful commercial event that pumps up gross national product, adrenaline, libidos and relationships. Perhaps there are a few things that even Romans, countrymen, and lovers do not know about its celebration.

Origins

Following are fun facts about the beginnings of Valentine’s Day:

1. It started as a bloody pagan festival. The Romans long celebrated the pagan fertility festival, and Christians wanted to replace it. Roman priests celebrated the festival of Lupercalia between February 13 and 15 by sacrificing goats and dogs and using their blood-soaked hides to slap women on the streets as a fertility blessing.

2. There was more than one St. Valentine. Pope Gelasius outlawed Lupercalia by the end of the 5th century and instituted St. Valentine’s Day on February 14. Sources point to two saints named Valentine as the patron saint of the new festival. One was a third-century Roman priest martyred by Claudius 2 Gothicus. The other was also a priest who hailed from a town 60 miles away from Terni, Italy, who was also martyred by the same Roman Emperor. Catholic Education Resource Center points to the “early martyrdoms of three St. Valentines, all sharing a feast day on February 14.”

3. The first Valentine letter was written from prison. Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote the first Valentine’s love letter in 1415 AD to his second wife at the age of 21 after his capture at the Battle of Agincourt while imprisoned in the Tower of London.

4. Vinegar valentines were sent to disliked suitors. During the Victorian era, women who didn’t want the attention of certain suitors would anonymously send “vinegar valentines.” These cards were also called “penny dreadfuls,” the antithesis of customary valentines.

5. Valentine candies started as lozenges. Food Business News reported that pharmacist and inventor Oliver Chase created a machine that would quickly create lozenges to give to women as Valentine’s Day gifts. Later, Chase made candies known as Necco Wafers, and his brother came up with the idea of printing messages on the candy in 1866. In 1901, the brothers made heart-shaped Valentine candies.

6. Cupid began as a Greek god. Cupid has been associated with Valentine’s Day for centuries. He used to be called Eros, the Greek god of love, the son of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The Romans, who told of his mischief — i.e., playing with the emotions of his targets — named him Cupid and gave him a childlike appearance.

7. Valentine’s Day was not romantic until the Middle Ages. It was observed that birds began mating in mid-February, and people started associating birds and pairing off with Valentine’s Day. In 1381, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the poem “Parliament of Fowls” with this line: “For this was on Saint Valentine’s day / When every fowl comes there his mate to take.” Chaucer and the birds popularized the idea of a romantic Valentine’s Day.

8. Valentine cards started mass production in the mid-1800s. Giving people handwritten notes and tokens reached America by the 1700s. It was in the mid-1800s when Esther A. Howland in Massachusetts produced her cards, with lace and ribbons and sentimental messages. Because of the demand, she set up her assembly line at home and reduced her selling price from $1 to 5 cents.

Fast forward

Today, Valentine’s Day is one of the most celebrated festivities around the world. Here are more surprising modern-day fun facts about Valentine’s Day:

9. Almost 150 million Valentine cards are sold each year. Commercial Valentine cards are sold every year, not counting the pupils’ hand-drawn cards they give to their parents, teachers and classmates. Behind Christmas, Valentine’s Day is the most popular card-giving festivity. Hallmark cards are among the top, if not the number one, sellers of Valentine’s cards. Hallmark was founded in 1910 by an 18-year-old entrepreneur, J. C. Hall.

10. Valentine chocolate was a stroke of marketing genius. Richard Cadbury, son of the manufacturer of Cadbury Chocolate, created the first known heart-shaped box of chocolates in an effort to drive up sales for the family business. From the first heart-shaped chocolate box sold in 1861, the industry now sells 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates every Valentine’s Day.

11. Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for florists. According to the Society of American Florists, flowers of all kinds are sold more on Valentine’s Day than on Christmas, Hanukkah, or Mother’s Day. The most saleable flowers on Valentine’s Day are the roses. In the US alone, roughly 250 million roses are grown for Valentine’s Day, and more than half are red. 12. Valentine’s Day is no

longer a religious feast day. In 1969, the feast day of St. Valentine was removed as a religious feast day or holiday from the Christian liturgical calendar, particularly because there was truly little known about the patron saint/s. Today, St. Valentine remains the patron saint of love, engaged couples and happy marriages — also of beekeepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, travelers, and young people.

13. Different places celebrate Valentine’s Day in different ways. Customs and traditions dictate how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in different parts of the world. In Japan, women give chocolates to men. Men reciprocate this gesture on March 14th, known as White Day. In Finland, February 14th is celebrated as “Ystävänpäivä,” which translates to Friends Day. Valentine’s Day is all about the expression of love.

14. Valentine’s Day is expensive. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent over $23.9 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Much of the revenues generated from purchases by lovers and friends are for jewelry, particularly diamond rings, estimated at roughly $6.2 billion in 2022. Also, it is estimated that as many as 6 million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day.

Aside from these 14 fun facts, here are other trivia about Valentine’s Day:

a) Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for the telephone on Valentine’s Day. Today, the smartphone is the single biggest medium for sending and receiving Valentine’s greetings.

b) Penicillin was introduced on Valentine’s Day. The world’s first antibiotic and one of the greatest scientific discoveries was introduced on the day people celebrate love — Valentine’s Day, or VD for short.

c) There’s a sad reason for giving chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Physicians in the old days would recommend chocolates to people suffering from a broken heart.

d) Contrary to popular belief, teachers are the most popular recipients of Valentine’s cards.

Charles Schulz, American cartoonist and creator of the Peanuts comic strip, said, “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”

Ernie Cecilia is the chairman of the Human Capital Committee and the Publication Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham); chairman of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines’ (ECOP’s) TWG on Labor and Social Policy Issues; and past president of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP). He can be reached at erniececilia@gmail.com.