Valentine's Day
By Jennie Shurtleff
Some estimates suggest that over 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year in the United States alone, which might leave some puzzling about how this tradition started.
Although there are three Christian saints who have been given the name St. Valentine, the one who is most commonly linked to the custom of exchanging cards on February 14 is a priest who lived in the 3rd century AD and defied the law by performing marriages. At that time, Claudius II was the emperor of Rome, and he had decided to ban marriages because he needed more soldiers, and he felt that matrimony would undermine his recruiting efforts as many men would prefer to marry and stay with their families rather than risk their lives fighting.
This medallion shows a bust of Claudius Gothicus, who is also known as Claudius II.
Despite the outlawing of marriages, Valentine continued to perform the forbidden nuptials. He was imprisoned for his actions and while incarcerated fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. As the story goes, he sent a card to the object of his affection just before he was executed on February 14 asking to be remembered by her and signing the card with words to the effect of “From your Valentine.” Unfortunately, most of the details in this story cannot be corroborated. Others have suggested that the derivation of Valentine’s Day likely has more to do with our distant ancestors watching nature and the seasons, and noticing that in the month of February birds often found a mate. This certainly seems to be the case with Chaucer, who penned in his “Parlement of Foules”: “For this was on seynt Volantynys day. Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.”
Regardless of how the tradition started, in the 1700s in England, people began exchanging cards, gifts, and flowers on February 14. As is often the case when determining historical dates, there are some discrepancies between sources of when the first commercially-printed valentine was made; however, in the United States, in 1915, the Hall Brothers, which later became the company Hallmark, published a card that is often cited as the first commercial Valentine’s Day card in this country.
Looking at the Vermont Standard, from 1922, a hundred years ago, it is clear that local merchants were quick to adopt the holiday and promote it. The paper contains advertisements from the Vermont Cut Flower Exchange in White River Junction proclaiming that flowers could now be sent, thanks to the telegraph, within 2 hours anywhere in the country or Canada. In the Village of Woodstock, while some advertised chocolates, there were multiple ads from the Standard Stationery Store, which was located on Elm Street. One of these ads advertised “Madam Vertefeuille’s Hand-Painted Valentine Greetings,” which were priced at 18 to 25 cents. For those, with a more modest budget, there were valentine postcards that could be purchased for a penny a piece. And, for those lucky enough to be invited to a party, there were Dennison’s Valentine’s Day outfits that could be had for 65 cents.
A few of the valentines from the Woodstock History Center’s collection. © Woodstock History Center
The Woodstock History Center is fortunate to have a number of historic valentines in its collection. To see more examples, which run the range from saccharine and sentimental to unsettling and bizzare, check out Victorian valentines on the internet.