Valentine’s Day

Adventure Connections looks closely at the most romantic day of the year

Once again Valentine’s Day is upon us, the time of love, of intentions made known, proposals – some anticipated, others a complete surprise.

Valentine’s Day has its roots in several traditions. Some trace it back to raucous annual Roman Festivals where men stripped naked, grabbed goat or dog skin whips and spanked young maidens in the hope of increasing their fertility. This pagan celebration called Lupercalia was held on February 15 and was still very popular 150 years after Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine.

The Church took the festival and attached it to the legend of St Valentine, which according to the story, says that in the third century A.D Roman Emperor Claudius II in an attempt to bolster his army, forbade young men to marry. Valentine disobeyed the ban and married young men in secret. For his pains Valentine was executed on February 14^th.

Others believe that according to an old English belief that birds chose their mates on February 14^th as well as the popular belief that springtime is a time for lovers.

It is likely that Valentine’s Day is a combination of all of the above and in the UK today it is worth approximately £2.4billion to the retail sector. Of this:-

• Around £151 million is spent on flowers
• Around £26 million is spent on cards, with around 13 million cards sent
• Around £384 million is spent on chocolate
• Around £18 million is spent on lingerie
• 42% of the population will spend money on their Valentines
• 10% of the population receive flowers
• 7% will receive chocolates
• 15% will receive a card
• 2% will receive lingerie
• 45 % of gifts bought by men are either not used, returned and changed for a different size or exchanged for something different

Anticipation has always been a major emotion associated with Valentine’s Day and for good reason. There was a belief that the first available man a single woman saw on that day would become her future husband.

Another belief had it that if all the names of a girl’s suitors were written on paper and wrapped in clay and then put into water, the piece that would surface first would contain the name of her husband-to-be.

And what about the belief that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a rich person.

Valentine’s Day is as humorous as it is romantic and there are some bizarre and fascinating facts about it that we’ve just got to share!

• According to the condom company Durex, condom sales are highest around Valentine’s Day, which are 20 to 30 per cent higher than usual.
• More at-home pregnancy tests are sold in March than in any other month.

• Penicillin, a popular treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis, was introduced to the world on February 14, 1929.
• One of the earliest known Valentine’s Day letters was written in 1415 by The Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was held in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt?
• After Christmas, Valentine’s Day is the single highest card-sending occasion.
• Teachers receive the highest number of Valentine Day cards.

• Verona, the Italian city where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters every year sent to Juliet on Valentine’s Day.
• In the Middle Ages young men and women drew the names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned on their sleeves for one week. This was done so that it became easy for other people to know their true feelings. This was known as “to wear your heart on your sleeve”.
• Wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on Valentine’s Day in Wales.
• Amongst the earliest Valentine’s Day gifts were candies. The most common were chocolates in heart shaped boxes.

• Apparently 15 per cent of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
• About 3 per cent of pet owners give gifts to their pets on Valentine’s Day.
• The first American publisher of valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland. During the 1870s, her elaborate lace cards were purchased by the wealthy, as they cost a minimum of 5 dollars – some sold for as much as 35 dollars
• Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an ‘Improvement in Telegraphy, on Valentine’s Day, 1876.
• Only the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the U.K. celebrate Valentine’s Day.

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