Be my Valentine
In honor of keeping with the theme of writing about traditions I found that it was only fit to write about Valentine’s Day. I have come a long way from the days of decorating boxes and exchanging cards with my friends at school, but I still never gave any thought to the reason behind the romantic holiday. I never understood why my friend’s favorite holiday was Valentine’s Day because I have always thought of it as just a hallmark holiday. I never really thought that it had any meaning behind it, but with a little digging I found that the holiday goes a little deeper than just a greeting card. One legend of Valentine’s Day goes back to about third century Rome When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl, who may have been his jailor's daughter, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'Christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Whichever history you choose to believe Valentine’s Day really started to take off in Great Britain, 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. Valentines Cards are now the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, according to the Greeting Card Association. The holiday also rakes in about 14 billion dollars a year so I could see why people think it’s a hallmark holiday, and I do agree that it has gotten a little out of hand. However, after finding out about the history of the holiday I think it makes sense to remind those around you that you care about them. I don’t think that a simple reminder about how much you care about your loved ones ever hurt anyone.