I’ve lived through a great many Valentine’s Days. Most of them have been with my dear wife, thank goodness. Allow me a few observations of this “holiday.”
First of all, it is not a holiday, not even for state and federal employees. Neither is it a Hallmark Holiday (i.e. Grandparents Day). This lovey-dovey day actually has a pretty dark and morbid origin. (This does not include the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.)
Roman Catholics recognize three St. Valentines. All three were martyred for disagreeing on religion and other topics with the Roman authorities in the early A.D.’s. Emperors can be so touchy. Two of the Valentines were beheaded, which can happen today if a man forgets to get his mate a suitable gift. Most men only lose their head once for this infraction. One of the St. Valentines supposedly sent his lover a note of affection from prison before his execution and signed it “Your Valentine.” A good story, but no actual proof exists. Was this the first Valentine’s card?
The Romans celebrated the pagan festival of Lupercalia Feb. 13-15. This was mainly a fertility ritual and a reason to drink too much and see what followed in terms of fertility. These dates took hold over the centuries and people were sending loved ones notes of affection and small gifts with some regularity by the 1400’s. Since very few people in the world could read or write in the Middle Ages, there couldn’t have been that many cards actually sent or read.
Americans always like to outdo the rest of the world. In the 1840’s, an enterprising woman named Ester Howland started to mass produce the first Valentine’s Day cards. Hearts and lace adorned the cards, a tradition that continues today in the aisles of Walmart, the Dollar Store and any Hallmark stores that still exist. One hundred forty-five million cards are sold annually in the USA.
If you want to see grown men sweat, go to any retail store between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 14. These are the “last minute” guys who are getting cards (no good ones left), flowers (good luck) and candy on their way home from work. It’s the same guys you see at Walmart on Christmas Eve.
Pearl of Wisdom: If you are just giving or sending a card, your intended recipient will read it and then look at the back on the bottom right corner. That is where the price is marked. She will know if it came from the Dollar Store.
In closing, a quick story. My junior year at Michigan State found me unattached. To tell the truth, I was pretty much unattached all four years at my alma mater. Right after Valentine’s Day, I sent a letter to the school newspaper lamenting that one more Feb. 14 had come and gone and I had not received flowers. My point was that guys send flowers but don’t receive them. Several women wrote back to the paper that my point was well taken. Three women actually had flowers delivered to my room. No, I didn’t end up dating any of them.
P.S. Where did the chubby little Cupid come from? He/she/it was modeled after the Greek god Eros, who shot good arrows at suitable couples and bad arrows at people who needed disposing of. Not to be confused with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
