Valentine’s Day is celebrated to honor love and affection, with roots in the feast of Saint Valentine on February 14.
Origin
Valentine’s Day is February 14. It honors St. Valentine, a Christian martyr of the 3rd century. Pope Gelasius I set the feast day in 496.
Romance
Geoffrey Chaucer linked it to love in the 1300s. Handwritten valentines spread in the 1400s and 1500s.
Today
Americans spent about $25.9 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2024 (National Retail Federation). About 145 million cards are sent each year.
Traditions
Cards, flowers, chocolate and dinners.
Saint Valentine
The Catholic Church recognizes several early saints named Valentine, martyred in the third century. One was a priest or bishop executed in Rome around 269 AD. The date February 14 was designated for St. Valentine’s feast by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD.
Link to romance
The link to love is generally credited to the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. His poem “Parliament of Fowls” (around 1380) connects St. Valentine’s Day to birds choosing mates. Earlier legends about Valentine secretly marrying couples are not historically verified.
Lupercalia theory
Some say the holiday replaced the Roman festival Lupercalia on February 15. Historians consider this link uncertain.
Early cards
The oldest known Valentine message is a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Handmade cards became popular in the 1700s. Printed cards spread in the 1800s. Esther Howland of Massachusetts sold the first mass-produced American valentines in the 1840s.
Modern numbers
The National Retail Federation estimated that US consumers would spend about 25.8 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day in 2024, including candy, flowers, jewelry and dining. About 145 million greeting cards are sent each year in the US, per the Greeting Card Association, making it the second largest card holiday after Christmas.
Traditions
Cards, red roses, chocolates, dinner dates and gifts. In Japan, women give chocolate to men on February 14, and men return gifts a month later on White Day, March 14. In Finland, it’s “Friend’s Day.”
Galentine’s Day
February 13 is popularized by the TV show Parks and Recreation for celebrating friendships.
Candy
About 8 billion candy hearts (Sweethearts) are made each year.
History and traditions
The holiday is named for Saint Valentine, a Christian martyr from the third century, with two or more saints by that name. Pope Gelasius I set February 14 as a feast day in 496. The link to romance is usually traced to Geoffrey Chaucer, who in his 1375 poem Parlement of Foules connected the day with birds choosing mates. The oldest known valentine poem was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415, while imprisoned in the Tower of London. Some historians link the date to the Roman festival of Lupercalia in mid February, although that connection is debated.
Modern numbers
The National Retail Federation estimated that Americans spent about 25.8 billion USD on Valentine’s Day in 2024. Typical purchases include candy, greeting cards, flowers and dinners out. Greeting card industry estimates put annual valentine cards at about 145 million in the US. Galentine’s Day, celebrated on February 13 for friends, was popularized by the TV show Parks and Recreation in 2010. The holiday is observed in many countries, with variations such as Japan’s custom of women giving chocolate on February 14 and men returning gifts on White Day, March 14.
Based on data from the National Retail Federation and the Encyclopaedia Britannica
