Valentine’s Day to most people brings forth ideas of love, flowers and candy. What most people are not aware of is the actual history behind the holiday. There are many different versions, but they are all somewhat similar. There are elements of both ancient Roman and Christian histories involved. One of the Roman legends states that the holiday was named for a priest called Valentine who continued to perform marriages even after it was made illegal for soldiers, while another claims that a man named Valentine was imprisoned, and fell in love with his captor’s daughter. He wrote her a love note that he signed “From your Valentine,” which is supposedly where the expression came from. Some people think that Valentine was just a man who helped the Christians escape the harsh Roman prisons where they were mistreated.
“Valentine’s Day has evolved from true love to spoiling your loved one just to prove you love them,” senior Rachel Ismail said.
There are also different ideas about why Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February. It could be in the middle of February in order to commemorate Valentine’s death, or an attempt from the Christians to deromanize an old pagan festival, also held in the month of February called Lupercalia. The 14th was officially designated as Valentine’s Day in 498 B.C.E. by Pope Gelasius, but the holiday was not widely celebrated until the 1600s in Great Britain. The next hundred years saw handmade valentines gain popularity, and eventually make their way over to the United States. Finally in the 1840s, the first mass produced valentines were sold. The holiday slowly evolved to become the day we all know today.
“It has gone from a holiday about love and commitment to a commitment to spend money,” junior Bari Goldman said.
Now Valentine’s Day is different than it originally started out. Almost a billion pre-made greeting cards are sent each year along with millions of flowers and pounds of chocolate, resulting in a very profitable holiday.
“Valentine’s Day is a stupid holiday because it is just a way for people to take advantage of us,” junior Katie Kalisher said. “I am against holidays like this because I think we should not be feeding the pocketbooks of 1% of America. People should not be spending money on stupid things when they charge everything on credit, and cannot even pay their rent. I also think that it is archaic for guys to try and make their girlfriends think they love them by buying them chocolate and diamonds. You cannot capitalize on my love, America.”
Many people also feel disheartened by the change in ideals on Valentine’s Day, from more morally pure and simple ideas of love, to commercialism.
“Back in the 1600s and 1700s, people actually had to put thought into things, because there weren’t any stores,” senior Taylor Gaitor said. “Now, we are such a fast paced society that people can just go to a store at the last minute, where people just do those kind of things for us.”
