Valentine’s Day chocolates and a candle. Image by 🌸♡💙♡🌸 Julita 🌸♡💙♡🌸 from Pixabay
No sooner does Christmas pass with its assortment of chocolate treats when Valentine’s Day appears on the horizon. Every February 14th brings this holiday that is heavily associated with chocolate. Why was this day chosen, and who was St. Valentine? And how did the celebrations get started?
St. Valentine is believed to have been a Roman priest who lived during the 3rd century, and during the days when Christianity was heavily frowned upon by the authorities. St. Valentine is said to have performed Christian wedding ceremonies when they were forbidden, and given the couples flowers that he had grown as a wedding gift. He was eventually caught by the authorities, and while sitting in jail, healed the jailer’s daughter of blindness. He also is said to have sent heart-shaped notes of encouragement to other persecuted Christians. Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th because that was the day on which St. Valentine was martyred in 290 AD.
During the Middle Ages, the Church was the most prominent power, and celebrations of saints’ days were popular. This was the time when it became a custom to send love notes on Valentine’s Day. This day was also believed to be the day on which birds started mating, and therefore, a reminder that springtime was coming. The cold winter wouldn’t last forever.
When the printing press was invented in the Late Middle Ages, it didn’t only mean that books and pamphlets could be printed more cheaply and abundantly, but the advent of assorted greeeting cards. By the 19th century, printed cards for St. Valentine’s Day were widespread. The 19th century also saw the first heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Cadbury’s started to offer them in 1861, and they quickly became a popular gift. Once the chocolates had been eaten, the receiver still had a decorative box to store things in.
Another sweet that is associated with Valentine’s Day was also invented in the 19th century, and that is conversation hearts. These pastel-colored sweets with messages on them first appeared in the mid-1800s when an American pharmacist built a machine that could produce lozenges in certain shapes. His brother came up with the idea of printing the messages on them.
It might be hard to believe, but Valentine’s Day has had its share of controversy associated with it. Although most of the cards contained affectionate messages, there was a brief fad in the Victorian Era of sending cards that had nasty things printed on them. So nasty, in fact, that the post office would refuse to deliver them. Another surprising fact about Valentine’s Day is that it’s illegal in some countries, like Saudi Arabia. Valentine’s Day has been condemned by Saudi religious leaders as an emulation of Western culture, and it’s not uncommon for flowers and other gifts to be confiscated there.
Fortunately, the efforts to ruin Valentine’s Day by some people have been mostly unsuccessful. Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday between the Christmas season and the Easter holidays. It normally comes around the time when, even though it’s normally still cold, you can tell that the days are noticably longer, and there’s a bit more sunshine than a few weeks earlier.
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