February 14 is nothing more that a big commercial. Buy this! Get that! Your significant other won't feel loved if they don't have gifts/chocolate/a ring when they wake up today! It's a total drag, and I have a significant other with whom to celebrate the holiday.
Valentine's Day originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyred saint named Valentine, (three of them, actually) and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world (Wikipedia). According to early tradition, Valentine was imprisoned for ministering to Christians and performing marriages for Christian soldiers which was forbidden under Roman law. While in prison, it is said that he restored the sight of the daughter of one of his jailors, prompting the conversion of the jailor and his entire household to Christianity. Good for them.
So how did we go from a Christian feast day celebrating the life of a saint to this sappy, commercial holiday? We have the British to thank for that. In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines". Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century. In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the United Kingdom, despite postage being expensive (Wikipedia). Within the next five years postage went down considerably due to postal reforms, and the number of valentines sent shot up to over 400,000.
In the United States, the first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland. Her father operated a large book and stationery store, but Esther took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father. Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines, Esther began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children. When the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities are included the figure goes up to 1 billion, and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines (Wikipedia).
Valentine's Day is a major source of economic activity, with total expenditures topping $18.2 billion in 2017, or over $136 per person. This is an increase from $108 per person in 2010. In 2019, a survey by the National Retail Federation found that over the previous decade, the percentage of people who celebrate Valentine's Day had declined steadily. (Thankfully.) From their survey results, they found three primary reasons: over-commercialization of the holiday, not having a significant other, and not being interested in celebrating it.
I, for one, am not interested in celebrating it. I told my husband not to get me anything this year, and I wasn't up for fighting the crowds to go out for dinner. He, of course, didn't listen and got me a small bouquet of flowers, a card, and some chocolate covered strawberries. I really appreciated that he did not get me the two-pound Whitman's sampler that I never finish, and that my hips don't need anyway. Dinner is probably not going to happen since The Boy is coming over to spend the day (and night) tomorrow, and that is just fine with me.
If you do celebrate Valentine's Day, or Galentine's/Palentine's Day or whatever form it has evolved into now, I hope you have a wonderful time. I'll just carry on normally and enjoy the blessing of a beautiful day and thank God that he allowed me to wake up on this side of the grass one more time.
