History of Valentine's Day and Its Traditions

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sharon_Cacho]Sharon Cacho

In different parts of the world, people do not just send cards; they purchase boxes of chocolate, nostalgic candy, or partake in a fancy, romantic dinner. There are many other ways to celebrate.

People in Europe bake valentine buns with caraway seeds, plums, or raisins. People in Italy hold a Valentine's Day feast.

In Britain and Italy, some unmarried women get up before sunrise on Valentine's Day. They stand by the window watching for a man to pass. They believe that the first man they see will be the person they marry!

In Denmark, people send pressed white flowers called "Snowdrops" to their friends. Danish men also send a type of valentine called a "gaekkebrev". This is a letter where the sender writes a rhyme but does not sign his name. Instead, he signs the valentine with dots, one dot for each letter of his name. The woman has to guess who the sender was!

Although views on how Valentines Day originated vary, most authorities trace Valentine's Day back to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. The ancient Romans held the festival of Lupercalia on February 15. During this celebration, young men struck people with strips of animal hide. Women took the blows because they thought that the whipping made them more fertile.

Thank you, but no thank you on that one. I will take a box of candy any day!

Speaking of candy, when you think of nostalgic candy, you cannot help but think "NECCO". It has been around since 1847. They are a staple in what we view as nostalgic candy. They have several types of candy still available, such as Clark Bar, Sky Bar, Buttons and Wafers.

What does this have to do with Valentines Day traditions? Have you considered the history of Necco's valentine hearts? These sweet little "I love you's" have been around for more than a century. This company is grounded in our history and has been around so long that Necco started out creating candy by hand. Thus, that is the origin of these classic candies. Valentine hearts are quite old; with legend stating that the tradition of handing out these candied messages of "I love you" dates all the way back to the Civil War.

They have certainly come a long way since then. In 1902, Necco began making their Valentine's Hearts in a factory. They have many different sayings now (in fact they have manufactured over one hundred different sayings). What are some of the favorites? They include "kiss me", "sweet talk", and "be mine".

Join us at [http://www.nostalgic-candy.net] for your sweet tooth desires!

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Origin of Valentines's Day

Origin of Valentines's Day
By Sean Carter

People have been in love from time immemorial. It would be unjust to ascribe any particular history and origin to love and the feelings that come with it. But Valentine's Day, the day which celebrates love worldwide, sure has a history and origin of its own. February is historically chosen to be the month of love and romance and the month to celebrate Valentine's Day. Can you possibly overlook the deluge of love-drenched feelings, the slushy outbreak of 'being in love' and the pervasion of the color red all around when the calendar turns to the month of February? No. None of us can! For, the one thing that's inextricably linked to the month of February is Valentine's Day--the most coveted celebration after Christmas and a day kept aside to let love rule everywhere. Come what may, the hype and hoopla surrounding Valentine's Day never goes unnoticed, no matter which part of the world you are placed in! And Valentine's Day incidentally is the 2nd largest card-sending occasion, after Christmas.
Valentine's Day has shadows of both the Christian and Roman traditions. Celebrated famously on February 14 every year, some believe that Valentine's Day has its history and origin in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The latter was an annual feasting and celebration by the Romans to keep fearful wolves at bay from damaging their crops. Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15 with the young men striking the women because it was believed that these blows would make them more fertile. This association of Lupercalia with fertility is probably one reason why Valentine's Day is linked to this ancient Roman festival. Also, on the eve of Lupercalia, which is on February 14, it was quite popular for young women to find their partners for the festival. The romantic origin of Valentine's Day can even be traced to this practice.
No matter what the history and origin of Valentine's Day includes, it sure includes this patron saint named St. Valentine. Now history even has it that there has been more than one legend related to St. Valentine. Summing two legends, we now know that there were two saints (of the same name Valentine) belonging to the early Christian church. One legend holds that when the Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade young men to marry to make better soldiers out of single men, a priest named Valentine defied the orders and secretly married young couples. Consequently he was beheaded on February 14 for his 'crime'. Some even hold that Valentine was killed for trying to help Christians escape the atrocities prevailing in the Roman prisons. But whatever the facts, ever since, February 14 came to be celebrated as Valentine's Day commemorating this great patron of people in love worldwide. The other story talks of another Valentine who was a children's favorite but was despised by the Romans for his religious defiance. The Romans had him behind the bars but the children still managed to send fond messages to their favorite Valentine. The current custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day might have roots to this age-old tale.
Yet another legend holds that when Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with the prison guard's daughter. And history states that before his death, he wrote a letter to his beloved signing off as 'From your Valentine'. It's not known to which extent these Valentine's Day legends related to its origin are true, but this expression 'From your Valentine' sure caught hold like wildfire. And people still send gifts and cards on Valentine's Day with this tag hanging from them--'From your Valentine'! So you keep the tradition going too.
Probably, the Americans began exchanging handmade Valentine's Day cards in the early years of the eighteenth century. And around 1840, a person called Esther A. Howland began selling the first big production of Valentine's Day greetings in America. Now, apart from all the facts and figures of Valentine's Day history and origin, one thing that's for sure is the choice of February as the month for celebrating love. In ancient Rome, February was the official kick-off month for the season of spring and was a time to feel happy all over again. Then in the Middle Ages, it was quite a popular belief in France and England that February was the birds' mating season. All these and many more taken together contributed to the consolidation of mid-February as the time for Valentines.
Finally, around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day!
Sean Carter writes on holidays, Valentine's Day and world events. He also writes on family, relationships, celebrations, religion, love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry and writes for 123greetings.com. He is an active blogger at Valentines Day Blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Carter
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The History Behind Valentines Day! On 14 February we celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day, usually by the way of exchanging cards, sweets, lingerie, flowers or jewelry. But, what exactly are we celebrating, is it just a holiday the retail stores invented to get our money? One could think so, but no, we are actually celebrating a Christian Holiday, Saint Valentine’s. We are following a Christian and ancient Roman tradition. By now the Catholic Church recognizes three Saints by the name of Valentine, or Valentinus. The first legend to the background of the celebration of Valentine’s Day is this: During the 3rd century a priest by the name of Valentine, under Claudius II in Rome, secretly disobeyed the law. Claudius had come to believe that a single soldier was a better soldier than a married young man and so decided to outlaw marriage in order to have plenty young strong men with no wives at his disposal. Valentine, the priest, did not obey this law and continued to celebrate the holy bond of marriage for young couples in secrecy. Of course, the way it always works with secret clauses, he was caught and sent to his death. The second legend believes that Valentine was a prisoner who fell in love with a young woman, who came to see him often. It is believed that she was his jailors daughter. Before his untimely death he wrote her a love letter, signed with ‘Your Valentine’. There fore the phrase ‘Be my Valentine’. Some believe he was beheaded, others thought that he died of sickness. No one is even sure if 14 February was the day of his birth or his death or if it had indeed anything to do with Saint Valentine at all. The only thing that is for sure, is that the Romans had a tradition in the middle of February, which would mark the 14th, called the Love Lottery. It was believed that spring and with it the renewal of life came along in the middle of February, therefore the love lottery was held, coupling young men and women for one year, often leading to marriage. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the USA, Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the United Kingdom. The oldest known Valentine’s card can be viewed in the British museum. Valentine’s day became an official Catholic Holiday in the year 496 or 498 AD. Pope Gelasius declared the 14 February to be Saint Valentine’s Day. The oldest known and remembered Valentine’s poem is from Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife, in 1415, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It is part of a manuscript collection of the British Library in London. Years later King Henry V is supposed to have hired the writer John Lydgate to compose a Valentine’s letter to Catherine of Kalois. In Great Britain it was around the 17th century that Valentine’s Day became a celebrated Holiday. By the middle of the 18th century it was common for all social classes to exchange small gifts or handwritten notes with lovers, loved ones and friends. By the end of the 18th century printed Valentine’s cards were available. In the United States people started celebrating Valentine’s Day in the early 1700’s by exchanging Valentine’s notes. The Greeting Card Association announced that Valentine’s Day is the second best selling card-sending day with one billion cards sold per year. The leader in the card industry is with 2.6 billion, Christmas. In the year 1835 Pope Gregory XVI was so impressed by the Irish Priest Father John Spratt that he gave him the black and golden casket, which is believed to house the remains of Saint Valentine. This gift from Rome, the black and golden casket, can actually be viewed on Valentine’s Day every year at Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, Ireland. We hope that you did enjoy this little background on Valentine’s Day and we wish you a very happy Valentine’s Day, with lots of lasting love and Friendship!