No.... Valentines day was not made up by Hallmark and yes they do make an absolute fortune out of us consumers on the only day of the year set aside for Lovers.... i myself tend to duck out of this day as I give Dr Dregs love tokens all year round...found in charity shops, auctions and sometimes even skips...so what is it all about and why do we spend thousands of pounds of our hard earned cash every year. The day itself actual dates back to pre-christian times in ancient Rome when a pagan festival took place which involved naked torso's, animal skin whips and the spanking of ladies bottoms all in the name of fertility of course. It took place over three days the 13,14 & 15 of February and was called Lupercalia and was done to promote fertility. Then came a series of Valentines through the ages whom all seem to have died on February the 14th, one beheaded, the second was imprisoned for giving aid to prisoners whom was then martyred on the 14th for converting and falling in love with his jailers blind daughter after sending her a note "from your Valentine", another tale says that the ruler of the time Emperor Claudius banned men from marriage to make better soldiers of them and Valentine carried out secret weddings.
The first declaration that 14th of February would be St Valentines Day came circa AD 496 and was to be a christian feast day...i guess this is where the saying that food is the music of love came about. The Christians where trying to take over the Pagan festivals to gain a bigger audience. The meaning of Love on this day came into play when King Richard II announced his engagement to Ann of Bohemia and Geoffrey Chaucer wrote of the occasion that "this was on St Valentines day when every fowl cometh there to choose a mate" . This was 1382.
Come 1400ad on St Valentines day a court of High love was opened in Paris to deal with all affairs of the heart from marriages to separations and even beatings of spouses and the first official Valentines love note was recorded to have been sent to his beloved by Charles the Duke Of Orleans while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after capture in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt.
It was not until the mid 18th Century that the sending of Valentine Love notes became popular in England with the sending of notes made from Lace and paper and there was even an early publication called the Young Valentine Writer filled with rhymes and messages for to write your loved, do you recall in your tens how we used to fill our cards with rhymes and S.W.A.L.K our envelopes. The start of the postal system allowed you to send anonymous Valentines... which of course was always exciting when you where young and received a valentines from an unknown admirer. The Valentines card gained popularity and come the early 19th century they went into mass production. 1913 was the start of the moneymaking machine that is hallmark and the sentiment of homemade love trinkets went to the wayside and money was being squeezed out of all lovers and would be lovers, today Valentines day estimates to gross £11 Billion so why not be different from the rest.. make your own card or even hunt down a vintage card to send the love of your life on ebay or if that is not for you go buy one from a local craftsman and support a small business... but most of all just tell your loved one you love them every day of the yearafterall love is all year round not just one day of the year.
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