Valentine's Day

History of Valentine’s Day

Most people know that Valentine’s day is a holiday where people celebrate love and friendship on February 14th, but the history of Valentine’s day is not as well known. It is agreed upon by historians that the holiday was named for a Saint Valentine, but there are three saints who all could have served as the namesake of the holiday. The first two were executed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II for secretly marrying young men in spite of his decree which outlawed the marriage of young men in order to keep them in the military. The third Valentine was rumored to have written a love letter, signed “From your Valentine”, while being imprisoned for helping other Christians escape jail. Regardless of which Valentine was the real inspiration for the holiday, they all embody an honorable, romantic figure.

Valentine’s day was originally celebrated as a Roman festival, complete with animal sacrifice and nudity. The fervor of valentine’s day fell with the Roman empire, and it was not until the mid 18th century that the celebration of Saint Valentine resurfaced. This was a completely different celebration, with a greater focus on individual relationships instead of a collective holiday. By the 19th century, it was common to exchange greeting cards or small tokens, and the usage of the phrase “my valentine” increased, giving credit to the theory that the third Saint Valentine was the inspiration for the holiday. As printing technology improved, so did the popularity of giving out cards for the holiday, and by the 20th century the holiday reached the final form that is celebrated today.

How does Panther Creek celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Panther Creek students celebrate Valentine’s day in a lot of different ways, but can mostly agree that Valentine’s Day is a fun holiday, with only 15% of students polled saying they don’t like the holiday. A third of people say they spend $0-25 on a gift, another third say $25-50 is more likely, and the last third spend more than $50 on a Valentine’s gift. Despite this wide price range for Valentine’s Day gifts, more than 80% of students agree that the only important part of a Valentine’s Day gift is the thoughtfulness behind it. Chocolate is a possible gift idea on Valentine’s day, and an even mix of Panther Creek has a preference for each of the common flavors- milk, white, or dark chocolate. In terms of how they like to spend Valentine’s day, half of students would rather stay in and half of students would rather go out.