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“We, in particular, love the idea of gift-giving which lends to a boost in the economy.”
Not unlike Christmas or other mainstream holidays, Valentine’s Day sees couples scurrying in all directions to meet their yearly obligation of gift-giving.
The day has become so commercialized that very few bother to acknowledge the saint – or rather saints – that the day commemorates, and fewer are aware of the man who originated the holiday.
Wendy Turner, associate professor of history, said although St. Valentine’s Day was originally a day to honor several saints by the name of Valentine who were persecuted for their beliefs, Geoffrey Chaucer, a proclaimed English poet, was the first to link the day to love and romance.
“A lot of people point to Chaucer as being the first to refer to Valentine’s Day as a romantic affair,” Turner said. “According to Henry Kelly, who’s a famous medieval historian that studies Chaucer and Shakespeare, the first main association with Valentine’s Day is Chaucer’s ‘Parlement of Foules,’ where he talks about birds choosing their mates. There are also passages in Shakespeare that point to Valentine’s Day as a day to celebrate love.”
As time passed, this “holy day” was viewed less as a day set to pay respects to martyred saints and instead became a day to take up romantic customs such as exchanging “Valentines,” paper cards, which Turner said became popular during the Middle Ages.
“People more and more had begun to hand-make these fancy paper Valentines during the Middle Ages,” Turner said. “And at the time, there was this new material called paper lace and people had often used it to line the edges of their shelves and cupboards to make them look pretty. So people eventually began using this lace to create paper Valentines, which continued to be a popular custom well into the 1950s.”
The exchanging of paper Valentines eventually evolved into the exchanging of much pricier gifts, and by the 20th century, gift-giving on Valentine’s Day had officially become an annual obligation for most consumers. Clinton Amos, associate professor of business, said as time progresses, consumerism on Valentine’s Day increases due to its cultural influence.
“There is just this interesting part of our culture that loves the holidays,” Amos said. “We actually have quite a few more holidays than other cultures around the world, and we, in particular, love the idea of gift-giving which lends to a boost in the economy.”
John Hayes, associate professor of history, said consumers are like creatures of habit when Valentine’s Day rolls around.
“In a way, the day celebrates romantic love, but in 19th century America and especially in 20th century America, consumer behavior became basic to the economy and people, like time, (are) punctuated by festivals,” Hayes said. “Anything can be turned into a festival of consumption and that’s what became of Valentine’s Day. In a way, it makes our economy tick.”
Turner said the first signs of consumerism derived from Valentine’s Day can be traced back to the Victorian period during the early days of mass production.
“In the Victorian period, they finally had ways of doing mass production,” Turner said. “So they began to mass produce paper cards. Later, a company called American Greetings officially started the whole greeting card trend; not Hallmark, contrary to popular belief.”
Although consumerism may have sullied the true meaning of St. Valentine’s Day’s, Amos said there is one factor that the day has not damaged: the economy.
“It becomes more instilled as an institution in culture,” Amos said. “Companies are always looking for things that they can take advantage of in terms of boosting sales. Some people may look at that as the dark side of marketing, but relatively speaking, holidays simply provide the opportunity for businesses to thrive.”
Looking past the economic side of the holiday, Turner said Valentine’s Day has managed to maintain a bit of merit for some groups. School children for instance often pick up valuable social skills on Valentine’s Day, according to Turner.
“The day has sort of gotten kids in the habit of learning good manners, being polite, sharing and things of that nature,” Turner said. “In the modern world, Valentine’s Day has, in a sense, taught children how to engage in proper interactions between friends.”
Whether they love it or hate it, Americans can rest assured that Valentine’s Day is here to stay. However, what the evolution of Valentine’s Day says about society is something Hayes said concerns and intrigues him. Hayes said although the likelihood of Valentine’s Day veering away from commercialization in the future is unknown, the chances of such a shift occurring is unlikely.
“There could be a reaction against the commodification of everything, but I really don’t see that happening in the near future,” Hayes said. “It seems like people don’t bat an eye to most elements of life becoming utterly commercialized, romantic love included, so unless there’s some major cultural backlash against commercialization in the future, I don’t see a change in the cards for Valentine’s Day.”