Valentine Cards

Among the numerous Valentine's Day traditions, the classroom card exchange is one of the most enduring. Each year, elementary school children typically select a box of valentines featuring their new favourite superhero, princess, snack, or an Internet meme, fill out a card for each of their classmates, and distribute the cards during class time among their peers' decorated shoeboxes. While it can be a fun diversion for children, especially if they can convince their caregivers to purchase cards with stickers or glow sticks, parents have long complained about the practice. Many adults may be perplexed as to how a holiday ostensibly dedicated to romance was appropriated by children. More importantly, they may wonder why we send Valentine's Day cards in the first place.

The tradition of exchanging valentines appears to have begun in 18th-century Europe and the United States, but some legends attribute the exchange of affectionate greetings to St. Valentine himself. Valentine could be the name of one or two martyred Christians: one was a priest and physician in Rome, while the other was a bishop in Terni, Italy. Both are said to have been executed on February 14, approximately 270 years ago, and could very well have been the same individual.

In any case, legends recount Valentine's execution for defying the emperor by secretly marrying couples to keep their husbands out of the war. While incarcerated, Valentine allegedly befriended (or, in some accounts, fell in love with) his jailer's daughter, whom he also miraculously cured of blindness. He is said to have written her a farewell message the night before his execution, signing it off with "Your Valentine."

While the story of Valentine's message may seem fitting, it did not immediately establish the custom of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Indeed, Valentine's Day was not declared a holiday until the fifth century, when Pope Gelasius I allegedly required a convenient holiday to replace the Roman festival of Lupercalia. Lupercalia, which occurred in mid-February, was known for its excessive revelry and distinctive fertility rituals such as men lashing women with the hides of sacrificed animals.