A history of Valentine's Day

It’s almost that time of the year again where couples celebrate their love for one another and single friends come together to celebrate saving money.

Over the centuries, Valentine's Day has evolved from a day of feasting and public worship for prominent Christian figures to an occasion where couples express their love for each other by going out on dates and exchanging various gifts.

Valentine’s Day is one of the most widely recognized annual holidays in the world, with millions of people celebrating the occasion in Latin and North America, Asia, and Europe.

However, Valentine’s Day in its modern context only became popular around 1797 in England, when a British publisher wrote a piece entitled The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which offered advice to young lovers on how to write sentimental and poetic verses to people they felt affection for. Paper Valentines was born, and in 1835 it was estimated that 60,000 cards were sent by post.

Fast forward to the 21st Century, and gifts have expanded from hand-written cards to include electronic cards, flowers, chocolates, jewelry, fancy restaurant dinners, and much more.

In fact, Valentine’s day has become so popular in Europe and America that businesses collectively rake in billions from the occasion. In the United States alone for example, the average person spent $131 in 2013 on Valentine’s related gifts. The amount of money collectively spent on Valentine’s Day has led many to perceive the occasion as a Hallmark holiday.

However, Valentine's Day wasn’t always about spending money or even couples celebrating their love.

Initially, the occasion began as a Western Christian liturgical feast day to honor early saints known as Valentinus. Indeed, there were a number of Christian martyrs named Valentine, with the most prominent being Saint Valentine, a third-century Roman.

It wasn’t until 1382 that the first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love occurred.

In a poem published in the Parlement of Foules, the famous English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day

Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

When translated, the passage reads "for this was on St. Valentine's Day, when every bride cometh there to choose his mate."

Today, aside from Valentines being an occasion for couples to celebrate love and businesses to make money, it’s also an occasion for single people to get together for Single Awareness Day (S.A.D).

In this sense, whether you’re in a stable relationship or happily living the single life, Valentine’s Day and Single Awareness Day have something to offer everyone.