By the 1950s sending flowers became commonplace
The ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, celebrating fertility and the renewing of life, was originally between February 13 and 15. Named after the Lupercal, the cave where Rome’s founders Romulus and Remus were said to have been suckled by the she-wolf Lupa, it was one of the highpoints of the pagan calendar up until the 6th century AD. Boys and girls, who led separate lives at this time, would be paired with each other for the duration of the festival.
During this period, two high profile Christians called Valentine were martyred by the Romans. Valentine of Rome, who had allegedly performed miracles, was mythologised by Christians for centuries afterwards as it was said that he had personally refused the Emperor Claudius’s offer to convert to Paganism and instead tried to convert him to Christianity, resulting in his prompt execution.
In AD 496, with Christianity now the dominant religion and the authorities eager to stamp out older traditions, Pope Gelasius banned Lupercalia, replacing it with St Valentine’s Day on February 14, a date that remained in the Catholic Church calendar until 1969.
The day itself was not specifically associated with romantic connotations until it was mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his poem Parlement of Foules regarding the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
The earliest surviving Valentine’s note is a rondeau, a form of French poem, written by Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his beloved from the Tower of London after being captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. By the time of the English Renaissance at the start of the 17th century, the day was being mentioned regularly by some of our greatest poets, including William Shakespeare and John Donne.
To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
By the end of the 18th century, with the Royal Mail now widespread, the practice of sending letters on Valentine’s Day became even more common. In Norfolk, the custom of Jack Valentine, which regarded the occasion as important as Christmas Eve where gifts were left on the doorstop of the lucky recipient, was commonplace right up until the 1960’s.
Intricate hand-made cards made of paper and lace were the norm and in 1797 a book entitled “The Young Man’s Valentine writer” was published, with tips on verse creation. With the advent of the Victorian age, mass production of cards started and in the US this was the harbinger of the commercialisation of holidays that is apparent today. The tradition of the anonymous sender gathered pace during the Victorian era, with suitors eager to avoid identification by censorious fathers who habitually would read everything sent to their daughter.
Cheaper postal rates meant that gifts could be sent as well, and by the 1950’s, both flowers and gifts such as chocolates became commonplace. Today it is estimated that over 500 million valentines card are sent worldwide every year, although around half of these are sent to family members or children.
Find your Valentine with Saga Dating.
Romance today
Interestingly, in a major survey carried out by Saga of over 10,000 people aged 50 and over, just 2% claimed that romance was the key to a long lasting relationship, with men finding it marginally more important than women.
Nearly half of over 50s surveyed believe that communication is the key to maintaining a long lasting relationship, with laughter, never going to bed on an argument and shared interests also listed. Only 1% of people surveyed said that separate finances would help.
Although the over 50s also reported that sex is more fulfilling than when they were in their 20s and 30s, and in fact almost half of sexually active Saga panellists have sex at least once a week, with a further quarter saying fortnightly, a good sex life was not considered to be the main method of maintaining a long relationship - in fact only 4% claimed it was a priority. Anyone wishing to help get in the mood should use our guide to aphrodisiacs.