Musings: Love has a long past and a costly present
Valentine's Day is Saturday. Still time to buy a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Credit: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Anadolu
It’s time for another non-holiday holiday (think Halloween) in which schools, banks, and government offices are not closed. Even so, the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest such organization, estimates spending on Valentine’s Day will exceed $29 billion this year.
Where does the money go? For starters, as a “Hallmark holiday” it is second only to Christmas for the purchase of greeting cards, not to mention the cost of a 78-cent first-class stamp. Then there are the obvious expenditures on chocolate candy and flowers. How about a romantic dinner at your favorite restaurant? You’re sure to find a special Valentine’s Day menu waiting for you. Ka-ching!
So, whose idea was this? Where did it come from? How did it get started?
Actually, the first known reference to our current Valentine’s Day dates to the 14th century. The poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote “The Parliament of Fowls” in 1382, when birds ventured forth to choose their mates on that day. But those are relatively modern roots.
Was there a St. Valentine? Well, yes, sort of. It is believed that Valentine, a priest or possibly a bishop, got on the wrong side of Roman Emperor Claudius II. It seems Claudius believed young men made better soldiers if they were not married. Valentine secretly performed their marriages anyway, but Claudius found out and Valentine lost his head over it, literally. The date of his execution? Feb. 14, circa 270 AD.
Still more ancient origins are linked to Roman pagan fertility rites, namely Lupercalia. It was pretty raunchy, of course, involving animal sacrifice and all kinds of carrying on. Lupercalia occurred on Feb. 15. Later on, the Catholic Church set the date as Feb. 14 to celebrate the martyrdom of St. Valentine and to separate it from the date of Lupercalia.
What about the tradition of giving decorative heart boxes of chocolate? None other than Richard Cadbury of the Cadbury chocolate company is credited with coming up with the idea of the beautiful heart-shaped box of chocolates in 1861. The boxes were often adorned with Cupids and roses. Cadbury has been referred to as a marketing genius.
Is it true, though, that all you need is love? Maybe The Beatles were right. But a little extra cash on hand would be helpful.
— Victor Caliman, Kings Park
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