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What is Valentine's Day?. Valentine's Day is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them. After New Year's Day, it is the most celebrated holiday around the world. Legends.
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What is Valentine's Day? • Valentine's Day is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them. After New Year's Day, it is the most celebrated holiday around the world.
Legends • There is an embellishment to The Golden Legend, which according to Henry Ansgar Kelly, was added centuries later, and widely repeated. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as "Your Valentine." This expression "From your Valentine" is still used to this day.This legend has been published by both American Greetings and The History Channel. John Foxe, an English historian, as well as the Order of Carmelites, state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in Rome, located near the cemetery of St Hippolytus. This order says that according to legend, "Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship.
Chaucer's love birds • The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules(1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer wrote: • For this was on seynt Volantynys dayWhan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600–1601) • To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,All in the morning betime,And I a maid at your window,To be your Valentine.Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,And dupp'd the chamber-door;Let in the maid, that out a maidNever departed more. • —William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
Modern times • In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines," and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishlyVictorian.
Valentine's Day in Latin America • In some Latin American countries Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" (Day of Love and Friendship). For example Mexico, Dominican Republic Costa Rica,Ecuador, and Puerto Rico, as well as others. It is also common to see people perform "acts of appreciation" for their friends.
Valentine's Day in Japan • In Japan, Morozoff Ltd. introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later in 1953 it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958 theIsetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.
Valentine's Day in England • In England it was the custom of dressing up for children and adults visit the next house with singing. Small groups of kids singing songs audiences love, which cyclically repeated theme: "Good morning, Valentine." Some of the popular gift items include cardboard heart with the characters of Romeo and Juliet.
