Once I was in grade faculty, Valentine’s Day was considered one of my favourite holidays.
There have been playing cards. There was the likelihood that your crush truly preferred you again. And, there was the chocolate — a lot chocolate.
Little did I do know that the roots of this vacation bore little-to-no resemblance to my childhood expertise of it. We have been by no means taught that Valentine’s Day truly originated with an arguably ugly ancient festival, the place there was no chocolate or alternate of cute, red-and-pink playing cards.
So how on earth did we get from an historical Roman competition to a vacation that compels many people to spend no less than $185 on celebrating it? That story, it seems, is hundreds of years outdated — however we’ll attempt to condense it.
Desk of Contents
How Valentine’s Day Started and Developed
Historical Rome
The roots of Valentine’s Day are cited by some sources to lie within the historical Roman competition Lupercalia, largely as a result of it occurred yearly on February 15 — the day after what’s right now the noticed date of Valentine’s Day — and concerned some very primitive types of courtship and matchmaking.
However it was additionally historical Rome that noticed the well-known execution of a St. Valentine on February 14, round 278 A.D. According to legend, he wrote a letter on the evening earlier than his execution to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended, and signed it, “From Your Valentine.”
Over two centuries later, Pope Gelasius ordered that Lupercalia get replaced with the February 14 statement of St. Valentine’s Day. That set the tone, some imagine, for the day’s forthcoming custom of exchanging “love messages,” maybe in remembrance of St. Valentine’s farewell letter.
The Romans are additionally credited with establishing the thought of Cupid — a god of affection usually depicted with arrows that, because the legend goes, inflict love upon those that are hit by them. The Roman model of Cupid was tailored from Eros, a god of ardour and fertility in Greek mythology.
It appears that evidently nobody is kind of positive when Cupid grew to become related to Valentine’s Day, however the truth that each have origins in historical Roman tradition means that there could have been some very early overlap between the 2.
Shakespeare (and Chaucer) in Love
When NPR’s Arnie Seipel got down to discover the historical past of Valentine’s Day, he discovered that it first became romanticized by classic authors like William Shakespeare within the late sixteenth century, and Geoffrey Chaucer within the 1300s.
Chaucer
Dartmouth English Professor Peter Travis cites Chaucer’s epic poem The Parliament of Fowls, which was one of many first literary references to St. Valentine’s Day, or “Seynt Valentynes Day,” as Chaucer spelled it. One such point out is made, Travis explains, alongside the road, “Now welcom somer, with thy sonne sonne, That hast this wintres weders over-shake.”
In different phrases, once we have a good time love within the coldest depths of winter — in February, for example — it’s so heartwarming that it makes summer season really feel much less far-off.
Shakespeare
Some literary historians credit score Shakespeare for the permeation of affection into standard tradition along with his composition of “Sonnet 18” — mentioned to be written between 1593 and 1601 — a.ok.a., “Shall I examine thee to a summer season’s day?” It’s unclear when or how this specific work grew to become related to Valentine’s Day, however like Chaucer, Shakespeare compares like to the seasons.
“Whereas summer season days could fade and fall into” colder months, writes Shakespeare analyst Lee Jamieson, “his love is everlasting.”
After all, Saint Valentine’s Day is alluded to outright in Hamlet — written between 1599 and 1601 — when the character Ophelia recites a song a few younger woman’’ expertise with the vacation, which incorporates lyrics like, “Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day,” and, “To be your Valentine.”
The seventeenth Century and Past
By the 1700s, it’s mentioned that Valentine’s Day made its means from Europe to america, which aligns with the institution of the North American colonies between 1607-1770.
It grew to become conventional, in line with HISTORY.com, “for buddies and lovers of all social lessons to alternate small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.”
That was extra frequent in England, nonetheless, the place the Industrial Revolution started earlier and ultimately included the manufacturing of “fancy valentines [that] were extremely expensive to import.”
I discovered that one American girl, Esther Howland, was so intrigued when she acquired her first English Valentine’s greeting in 1847 that she grew to become infatuated with the thought of producing them within the U.S.
She was an early entrepreneur and instinctively believed that there could possibly be an American marketplace for these formal, English-style greetings.
After procuring supplies like high-quality paper and lace from her father, a stationer, she created what many credit score because the earliest American Valentine’s Day greeting playing cards.
Immediately, Howland remains to be honored with the nickname “Mother of the American Valentine,” with many citing her work as the beginning of a multi-million-dollar industry. However it didn’t occur in a single day — let’s check out how her work paved the best way.
A Temporary Timeline of Valentine’s Day Advertising and marketing
1714
Charles II of Sweden begins speaking with flowers by assigning a unique message to every sort. This custom allegedly assigned love and romance to the red rose, setting the stage for this flower to be exchanged throughout the later, commercialized period of Valentine’s Day.
Nevertheless, it stays unclear if a particular model is chargeable for first advertising flowers as a part of Valentine’s Day gift-giving.
1822
In England, the place Valentine’s Day had already been celebrated with the alternate of items and playing cards for a few years, the Cadbury chocolate firm offered the first heart-shaped box of chocolates.
1849
In Massachusetts, Howland produces a dozen pattern Valentine’s Day playing cards and sends them off together with her brother to distribute throughout a gross sales journey for his or her father’s firm — S.A. Howland & Sons — hoping to earn $200. As an alternative, he returns with 25X that amount, indicating a a lot higher-than-expected demand.
Right here’s an instance of a card Howland created round this time:
1850
The primary print commercial for Howland’s playing cards seems within the Worcester Spy.
1866
Dialog candies have been developed when Daniel Chase, brother of New England Confectionery Firm (NECCO) founder Oliver Chase, used vegetable dye to print words onto confections.
1870
Howland incorporates her booming card enterprise because the New England Valentine Company, working out of her house through an meeting line that was largely composed of her buddies.
1879
The New England Valentine Firm strikes operations from Howland’s house to a Fundamental Road manufacturing facility in Worcester, Massachusetts.
That very same yr, the corporate printed the Valentine Verse Book, which contained 131 “verses” that individuals may minimize out and paste within playing cards that got here with no greeting — or these with a greeting that the client didn’t like.
1880 – 1881
Howland sells the New England Valentine Firm to the George C. Whitney Company.
1888
Whitney has acquired at the least 10 rivals, together with Berlin and Jones, which had grow to be New York Metropolis’s “largest manufacturer of Valentines.” Ten years later, the corporate strikes to large-scale headquarters on Worcester’s Union Street.
1894
The Hershey Chocolate Firm was based, bringing what was beforehand “a European luxury product” to the U.S.
1902
Dialog candies grow to be heart-shaped.
1906
American Greetings is based, ultimately changing into considered one of Whitney’s chief rivals.
1907
The Hershey Chocolate Firm introduces its Hershey Kisses sweet product. Curiously sufficient, the product was allegedly named Kisses as a result of at any time when a bit of chocolate was dropped on the conveyor belt on the Hershey manufacturing facility, it gave the impression of a kiss.
1910
That January, an enormous hearth destroys a lot of Whitney’s headquarters. Nevertheless, a lot of the Valentine’s Day merchandise had already been shipped for the season, having little influence on that exact vacation.
That very same yr, Hallmark is founded. In the meantime, 1910 additionally noticed the creation of Florists’ Telegraph Delivery — right now often known as FTD — which pioneered the distant ordering and supply of flowers, offering a solution to ship them to far-away family members.
1913
Hallmark produces its first Valentine’s Day card.
Nineteen Thirties
The apply of schoolchildren passing out Valentines and sweet to their classmates has grow to be broadly standard. Producers of Valentines’ began promoting packs of 25 for teenagers to buy and hand out.
1948
The De Beers diamond firm launched its “A Diamond is Forever” marketing campaign, sending the message that gifting high-end jewellery can be utilized as an expression of affection.
1985
Within the ‘80s corporations like Hallmark started launching extra Valentine’s Day associated commercials. In 1985, one industrial, which dubs Hallmark as “The Valentine’s Retailer,” exhibits off all the playing cards and heart-shaped merchandise you should purchase for your beloved of their areas.
1986
As if Kisses weren’t romantic sufficient primarily based on their identify, Hershey’s enforced them as a Valentine’s Day staple with one slight design tweak. The corporate started packaging Kisses candies in pink and red foil particularly for Valentine’s Day.
2004
As entrepreneurs continued to embrace new media, we noticed an inflow of high-quality and insanely high-budgeted commercials mark the vacation from the ‘80s till now. One of the crucial iconic and fantastically shot commercials was a mini-romance drama known as “Le Movie,” selling Chanel No. 5 fragrance.
Within the advert, a person falls in love and runs away with a starlet, performed by Nicole Kidman. In the long run, she returns again to her lifetime of fame. As she walks down the crimson carpet, he notes all of the issues he’ll bear in mind about her, together with the odor of her Chanel No. 5 fragrance.
2005
Valentine’s Day begins to go digital. On February 14, 2005, YouTube — which originated as an internet courting web site — made its debut. Co-founder Steve Chen nonetheless credit its invention because the brainchild of “three guys on Valentine’s Day that had nothing to do.”
2013
Journey sharing firm Uber rolls out “Romance On Demand,” permitting customers to ship flowers on Valentine’s Day through the app. This initiative would proceed to progress, with on-demand skywriting changing into obtainable the next yr.
2016
NetBase, a social media analytics platform, releases a Valentine’s Day Sentiment Analysis, measuring how folks interact with and focus on the vacation on social media.
In whole, it measured 9 million mentions of Valentine’s Day, with the overwhelming majority of them mentioning a particular model — Netflix. The highest hashtag was #happyvalentinesday.
2017
Within the earlier years of the Google Doodle, Google used Valentine’s Day to unfold consciousness of a uncommon species.
In 2017, a collection of Google Doodles proven within the days main as much as Valentine’s Day highlighted the tales of pangolins, the one mammal species with scales, as they offer one another Valentine’s Day items or serenade their mates.
Right here’s one instance:
Whereas, at this level, Google didn’t have to market themselves with Doodles, I believe this exhibits an early instance of a model that used its platform to creatively market one other trigger on the vacation.
2018
By 2018, Valentine’s Day advertising campaigns have gone utterly digital, with a very robust presence on social media.
With these new alternatives, I really like that smaller corporations that don’t have Hallmark’s price range can simply unfold consciousness of their very own manufacturers throughout the vacation.
Right here’s one instance of an Instagram submit that highlights a advantageous Italian restaurant forward of Valentine’s Day:
Whereas these actual canine mimicking Girl and the Tramp seize consideration — particularly from the animal lovers on Instagram — this submit’s caption inspired audiences to work together with the model.
2020
Amazon celebrates its workers who’ve met and fallen in love whereas working for the corporate. On this cute brief, we comply with the love story of two Amazon robots, however the conclusion factors to the true folks whose love tales have been written at Amazon.
As an alternative of pushing gross sales, this advert takes a second to disclose the people behind {the marketplace} everyone knows so effectively. The human contact of this advert does wonders for the rapport of the corporate whereas not selling something particularly.
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic prevents many {couples} from going out to have a good time Valentine’s Day this yr and the disrupted provide chains make it tough to supply huge portions of conventional items. So corporations have to search out other ways to succeed in their viewers this vacation season.
I believe this video advert from The Physique Store actually struck a chord with how most of us have been feeling by February 2021, after practically a yr of dwelling at house — with lives that had grow to be overwhelmingly digital.
Their tackle self-love presents a unique facet of affection than the romance we typically consider once we consider Valentine’s.
2022
How we do love has modified rather a lot within the twenty first century, particularly with the rise of courting apps. I really like this marketing campaign from Hinge — some of the standard courting apps — that acknowledges {that a} rising inhabitants of single dad and mom are nonetheless searching for love however could discover it tough to take action whereas caring for his or her youngsters.
Tapping into this viewers phase, Hinge presents a promo of $100 for childcare so single dad and mom can go on a Valentine’s date.
2023
One other twist on Valentine’s Day rising in reputation is knowing “love” in a broader means than simply romance. The Nationwide Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) from Singapore makes use of the vacation to advertise giving to and volunteering with their group.
2024-Current
Whereas Valentine’s Day continues to be an excellent standard vacation that sees excessive advert spend and People shelling out $27.5 billion, I believe what marks the current is that individuals acknowledge the variety of the way it may be celebrated (and marketed).
For instance, this TikTok video exhibits the right way to make a significant date evening in for Valentine’s Day on a price range:
And Dot’s Market, a grocery chain positioned in Ohio, presents reductions with Valentine’s advertising, though the meals they’re selling has no conventional connection to the vacation.
Lastly, UberEats continues to make Valentine’s Day as handy as potential. Combining the benefits of digital with real-world items, clients can store for his or her collection of flowers, sweets, stuffed animals, and extra to ship items to their sweethearts or to create a romantic evening.
What Entrepreneurs Can Study From Valentine’s Day Advertising and marketing
Like so many different holidays, Valentine’s Day has skilled a transition into popular culture that has formed the best way it’s perceived, mentioned, and celebrated. Certain, it’s usually accused of being nothing greater than a money-making advertising vacation.
However subsequent time you hear somebody label Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark vacation,” you’ll have a wealth of historic data to reply with.
I believe the most important takeaway for entrepreneurs is that there are many methods you’ll be able to promote your services or products with Valentine’s Day, however the hot button is to stay genuine to your model and to supply one thing that’s really invaluable to your viewers.
From our hearts to yours, Completely happy Valentine’s Day. I’ll be keeping track of its continued evolution.
Editor’s observe: This submit was initially printed in January 2017 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
