VALENTINE’S DAY

Have you bought a Valentine’s Day card for the love in your life yet? The big day is less than a week away so if you haven’t bought the card yet, you still have a little time.

The tradition of giving a Valentine’s Day card, along with the popular flowers and candy, started in jolly old England in the 1400’s when ‘courtly love’ flourished. Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

A hometown young woman, Esther Howland of Worcester Massachusetts, is credited with introducing the Valentine’s Day greeting card to the United States. She received an elegant card from her father’s English business associate when she was 19 and got the idea to make and sell her own. She ran her business successfully for over 35 years when she sold it to a local paper and stationer’s store.

That favorite Valentine’s Day poem actually originated in England and was published in a collection of nursery rhymes called Gammer Gurton’s Garland in 1784:

The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou'd be you.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day!