Valentines Day and the Great Corporate Cash Grab

“For some moments in life there are no words” ~David Seltzer

Leave it to me to rain on everyone's parade. I know...I know...I can hear the whispering..."He's just a heartbroken, sympathy- seeking mess of a man trying to make everyone miserable." Or maybe "he's cheap."
Actually, it's quite the opposite.

To understand my way of thinking, we need to go back to the origins of Valentine's Day.

According to Wikipedia -

"Though popular modern sources link unspecified Greco-Roman February holidays alleged to be devoted to fertility and love to St Valentine's Day, Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas argued that prior to Chaucer, no links between the Saints named Valentinus and romantic love existed. Earlier links as described above were focused on sacrifice rather than romantic love. In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.

In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13 through 15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia."

Apparently, the Catholic Church tried to "Christianize" the celebrations with feasts of their own but could not abolish the highly popular festival, thus forcing the church to set aside the day to honor the Virgin Mary.

There is no other historical mention of Valentine's Day until sometime later - 1382 by Chaucer.

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make. (sorry Geoffrey but.... could that guy use spell check or what?)

Problem is, I don't think birds would be flitting about in February....

Also, Hamlet (1600) has a Valentine's Day reference....

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

The modern version of Valentine's Day's which may have been the holidays first cash grab started in 1797 when a British publisher released The Young Man's Valentine Writer, for the love stricken lad unable to compose his own verses. Victorian times deemed it necessary to mail these mass produced cards anonymously due to racy content.

From a female perspective, since the 19th century, hand created cards held special value over the mass produced versions, but The mid-nineteenth century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the United States to follow.

I'm not here preaching about not being romantic, nor am I romantically handicapped. What I'm saying is this...

Don't wait until February 14th to show your partner that you care. This is something that should be done every day. Real love will have you waking up thinking about what you can do to make your partner's life better....like I used to....and you won't be required to spend a fortune on gold, diamonds, chocolate or those little candy hearts that taste like minty chalk that has "BE MINE" stamped on it.

Valentine's Day is a HUGE money maker to the corporations. An estimated 30 billion dollars is spent annually on jewelry, candy and flowers.

I don't know if you've noticed the adverts on TV, print and billboards pushing hearts, and Jarrods and flowers....according to the Wall Street Journal, more advertising dollars are spent on this holiday than the Super Bowl....WHY?

Because they know "The Code". (Please see this hub) http://hubpages.com/hub/Consumerism-Vs-Minimalism-The-Science-Behind-Advertisements

So, to wrap this up....tell someone that you love that you love them every day....not just February 14th because they might not be there one day....