The Valentine's Day Card
- by KissMeGoodnight.com

No one really knows how people first got around to giving gifts and cards on Valentine's Day. Some say it is connected with the ancient Roman festival in honor of their god Lupercus. During this festival Roman men used to draw names of teenage girls from a box and the girl who got picked was to remain his sexual partner for the period of the festival or in some cases for the rest of the year.

The church obviously didn't like such a pagan celebration. But they also realized they couldn't possibly put an end to such an attractive festival. So they tried to imitate it in their own way.

Instead of drawing names of girls, now the men got to draw names of saints and they had to now try and emulate the lifestyle of those saints for the rest of the year. I'm sure this couldn't have been as much fun as the Roman version, but it was a start. And the day, on which this happened was dedicated to the memory of Saint Valentine, who had laid down his life for getting couples married secretly against an emperor's orders.

It is said that Charles, the Duke of Orleans wrote love poems to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. Within a century the practice of sending valentine messages was quite popular.

In the olden days Valentines Day cards weren't the glossy printed things you can buy at your local store nowadays. They were handmade cards. The paper used was often colored either with ink or with watercolors. And there were many clever ways of writing the messages on them.

There was this 'acrostic' thing where the first letter of each line spelled out the name of the person for whom the card was intended. There was also the puzzle purse where a paper was folded and each fold had a verse written on it. When read in proper order the verses revealed a Valentine puzzle.

The decorations on each of these cards were also pretty distinctive. While some were written in the style of medieval illuminated letters others were done using picture stencils where figures were used instead of words. There were these Pinprick or Cutout variations, where the paper was pierced or cut into various shapes to make the letter attractive.

During the Industrial Age, Valentines Day cards went through a significant change. Cards were now being made by factory workers who hand painted on them black and white figures. By the end of the nineteenth century machines were being used to make these cards and they were extensively decorated with gold leaf, satin and lace.

This went on till the end of the twentieth century, when E-cards began to storm the greetings industry. Within a decade it has become clear that more E-cards are now being sent compared to the regular paper cards.

A few facts about the Valentines Day card are worth being pointed out. Although the day is celebrated right across the world the biggest consumer of these cards is the US with over one billion cards being sent each year. More astounding is the fact that about 85% of the cards are sent by women. It indeed seems that the world has come a long way from the days of the Roman festival of Lupercus when men used to draw women's name.

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KissMeGoodnight.com : 2006

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