Token Affection: The Story Behind an Ancient Custom

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On Valentine’s Day in medieval times, choosing a sweetheart was literally in the luck of the draw. A girl might find herself paired up with the local buffoon for an entire year because he happened to draw her name in the annual village lottery. On the other hand, she might be joined with her heart’s desire – live happily every after.

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But the celebration of this special day, sacred to sweethearts and greeting-card manufacturers alike, goes back much earlier. Its origins are a confused mixture of nearly 2,000 years of fact and fancy. Saint Valentine himself certainly existed. An early Christian martyr, he is said to have been beheaded on February 14, 270. What is not clear is how he came to be associated is probably accidental. February 14 was also the eve of the Lupercalia, an important Roman fertility festival.

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Old Habits Die Hard

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As Christianity gained influence in Rome, the church fathers replaced the fertility rites of Lupercalia with the feast of Saint Valentine, who ever after was to be patron saint of lovers. But though the date was given a new name, the sentiments and customs of the pagan festival remained, with variations added gradually.

By the 16th century, lovers were giving their dear ones love tokens – in particular, gloves and garters. A special gift from a sweetheart sailor might be a corset that he had carved out of wood and decorated with hearts, flowers, and a highly flattering self-portrait.

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In the 17th century the Puritans tried to put a stop to such frivolous behavior but without much success. Even John Winthrop, Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote to his wife on February 14, 1629: “Thou must be valentine, for none hath challenged me.”

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After the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in England in 1660, the customs of Saint Valentine’s Day returned as ardently as before. Curiously, however, they survived only in England and France; they had died out in Italy and Germany.

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Affectionately Yours: It was not until the mid 18th century that the custom of exchanging valentine cards became popular. Cards ranged from exquisitely decorated, handmade tokens of affection to cruder specimens that were far from complimentary

Love Calls

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The French village of Corciéres carried on the tradition of publicly shouting for valentines. After suitable inquiries about those they believed to be eligible for marriage, the elders of the community would divide into two groups and enter houses on opposite sides of the narrow streets.

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Then, with the lower-floor windows open, the elders called out the names of eligible boys and girls from one window to another. If the paired couples took a liking to each other, the girl would prepare a feast for her new beau and he would bring a bottle of wine; they ended the evening at a dance attended by all the people from the village.

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But woe to the girl whose valentine snubbed her: she had to spend the following week at home – alone. Vengeance would be exacted at huge bonfires in the village square, where effigies of those who had spurned their appointed valentines were burned. All ended in 1776, however, when a law was passed banning such behavior.

Hearts and Flowers

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The good saint’s breakthrough came with the popularity of the newly fashionable valentine card about the middle of the 18th century. In the beginning, cards were handmade, decorated with gold letters and paper lace, and inscribed with hand written love poems. More ambitious cards contained satin hearts hiding small perfumed sachets or tiny mirrors.

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By the 1850’s, however, machine-made valentine cards were being sold, and suddenly the expression of love became big business. For those who had difficulty expressing their feelings, invaluable volumes such as The Young Man’s Valentine Writer – published in both the United States and England – were at hand.

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Today, in the United States and England, Valentine’s Day is still very much a commercial occasion. Millions of valentines continue to be exchanged, and some collectors are willing to pay substantial amounts for old cards.

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For the foreseeable future, the celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day seems here to stay. Its namesake would probably be nonplussed.