Sign up for The Key Point of View, our weekly newsletter of blogs and podcasts!
People have been declaring their feelings since the dawn of time: poems, drawings, letters, etc. But before Valentine’s Day became the commercial holiday we know today, what was it?
History of Love
Whenever you date something far back in history, the dates always get a bit muddy—so take the information in here with a grain of salt. Unless it is dated and there is undeniable proof (like the Declaration, for example) much of early history is just educated guesses.
According to History Extra, some believe that the origins of the holiday of love can be attributed to the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. Others, meanwhile, believe February 14 was solidified as Valentine’s Day by Pope Gelasius I in the 5th century to “reclaim this festival from the Romans and Christianize it.”
According to that same article, the next installment of the Valentine’s Day saga comes from my favorite author—Mr. Geoffrey Chaucer, in his poem Parlement of Foules. The lines in reference read: “For this was on seynt Volantynys day / Whan eury foul comyth there to chese his make.” If you’re not like me and cannot read Middle English, fear not—it reads, “For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes there to choose his mate.”
Generally accepted as being written somewhere around 1380-1390, this is widely believed to be the first subtle reference to Valentine’s Day as a day for lovers.
So When Did Cards Come into Play?
Not with Hallmark, which began selling its first Valentine’s Day postcards in 1910. According to the History Extra article referenced above, the “first Valentine’s cards were sent in the 18th century. Initially, these were handmade efforts, as pre-made cards were not yet available. Lovers would decorate paper with romantic symbols including flowers and love knots, often including puzzles and lines of poetry.”
An article from BBC News in 2019 details the selling of the “‘world’s oldest’ Valentine’s Day card, believed to be handwritten about 230 years ago… sold at auction for £7,000.” It’s important to note that the article goes on to address the card as the oldest “still in existence.” Grain of salt, like I mentioned.
Declaring Love Is Timeless—and Profitable!
Either way you spin it, love is always going to be put into physical forms of declaration. And in today’s world, that means the day of love makes quite the profit. Jewelry, cards, chocolates, flowers, dinner out at a nice restaurant…Cupid’s arrow can cost more than $25.9 billion dollars each year. That’s bonkers, but also heartwarming in a consumerist kind of way. At least, the part about $1.7 billion of that money being estimated to go to our pets can be seen as sweet. And within all of that, the College of Natural Resources News reports that “Hallmark estimates that about 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are purchased annually (not including classroom cards) and Hallmark alone has 1,100 variations of Valentine’s Day cards presently available”.
So how much paper is that? I couldn’t find an exact number. But bear with me, here: you have the cards and their envelopes; cardboard used in the candy boxes; the little crinkled paper used to house those chocolates you need a roadmap to tell the flavor of; some candy wrappers; those little valentines that kids give to their classmates? They come in about 25 per pack (and a lot of the time come with stickers, which are also printed on paper). And more granularly, the tags on stuffed animals and toys. Your physical receipts from all this purchasing, too.
So…a lot of paper. Which means my next statement is this: Show the planet some love while you’re at it and read this article from The American Forest and Paper Association to learn about ways you can recycle after Cupid flies back to…wherever he dwells.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
