Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovely ladies of the Elsmar Cove! (The guys will have to fend for themselves.) Hope you have a day full of warm affection. I'm heading out of town today, so my family marked the occasion last night.

So, what kind of gift, if any, do you give to your sweetie for Valentine's Day? The poll allows you to chose more than one, and I decided to not make it a public poll (in order to protect the guilty).

Craig

From: How Things Work (http://people.howstuffworks.com/valentine.htm)

Esther Howland, the woman who produced the first commercial American valentines in the 1840s, sold a then mind-boggling $5,000 in cards during her first year of business. The valentine industry in the United States has been booming ever since. Today, over 1 billion valentine cards are sent in this country each year -- second in number only to Christmas cards, according to the Greeting Card Association. (The happy day is also celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.)

Who are the lucky recipients of all these cards? Experts say parents are the most popular recipients of seasonal cards, receiving about one out every five. Teachers, children, wives and sweethearts are also at the top of the list. Around 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to cards, there are millions of boxes of chocolates and bouquets of roses purchased (mostly by men) for the February 14 holiday.

When did the Valentine's Day frenzy begin? As is true of much of history, scholars tell slightly different versions of the history of this popular holiday. In this article, we'll look at that history, with its Roman and Christian roots, as well as holiday traditions that have developed over the years.

Origins of the "Day of Love"

The origins of Valentine's Day are shrouded in mystery. According to University of Notre Dame Professor Lawrence Cunningham, scholars have two main theories to explain how February 14 became synonymous with romance:

* Roman Feast of Lupercalia - This ancient pagan fertility celebration, which honored Juno, queen of the Roman gods and goddesses and goddess of women and marriage, was held on February 14, the day before the feast began. During festival time, women would write love letters, also known as billets, and leave them in a large urn. The men of Rome would then draw a note from the urn and ardently pursue the woman who wrote the message they had chosen. (Apparently, the custom of lottery drawings to select valentines continued into the 18th century, coming to an end when people decided they'd rather choose -- sight seen! -- their valentines.)

* The Birds and the Bees? - In the Middle Ages, people began to send love letters on Valentine's Day. Medieval Europeans believed that birds began to mate on February 14.

There's also some controversy regarding Saint Valentine, for whom the famous day is named. Archaeologists, who unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine, are not sure if there was one Valentine or more. Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred on February 14 -- at least two of those in Italy during the 3rd century. The most popular candidate for St. Valentine was a 3rd century Roman priest who practiced Christianity and performed secret marriages against direct orders from Emperor Claudius II, who believed single soldiers were more likely to join his army. Legend has it that Valentine sent a friend (the jailer's daughter) a note signed "From Your Valentine" before he was executed on February 14 in 270 A.D. (That phrase is still used prominently on today's cards!)

Early Christians were happier with the idea of a holiday honoring the saint of romantic causes than with one recognizing a pagan festival. In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius named February 14 in honor of St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers. In 1969, Pope Paul VI dropped it from the calendar. However, the blend of Roman festival and Christian martyrdom had caught on, and Valentine's Day was here to stay.

And.... From our friends at The Onion...

Hello everybody,
Happy Valentine for all the cove lovely men and women ;) , i hope that none of you is alone today and each one of you have his perfect mate :agree1:
I guess red flowers is the famouse gift all around the world specially between lovers, here in Egypt we wear red, having red gifts all the streets are red coloured, i guess it's the RED DAY :D
Thank you Marc for these sweet stories because i knew only about St. Valentine didn't know about the birds or the other before
I hope all of you have a great day full of love and passion :singtome:

Happy Valentines Day! I am happy for those who have spouses or significant others and are in love. :D

As for me, I am happily divorced!

Hershal

Here's an interesting article (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050207/cupid.html) which in part reads: Do Valentines Hinder Love?
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

Feb. 11, 2005 — Senders of greeting cards and valentines may actually use the cards to distance themselves from their feelings, reflecting a culture in which relationships, due to social and economic pressures, are "necessarily temporary," according to a new book by an Ohio State University professor.

In defense of Valentine's Day cards, the book also claims that what senders write in the cards is no less hokey or clichéd than some of the preprinted messages.

“So I guess we have to decide if this is distancing or if it is better than nothing. I would vote for the latter.”

The findings, based on an extensive study of dozens of card archives and collections across the United States, indicate that Valentine's Day cards are more than just trivial love tokens. Instead, the book suggests, they represent American economic and social values since the greetings first appeared in the 1840s.

Barry Shank, author of the book and associate professor of comparative studies, told Discovery News that he began the project thinking that people were better than cards at conveying emotions.

His research, which included scouring thousands of used greeting cards housed at the Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Library, proved his original theory to be incorrect.

"Most of the time, the writings added by the card senders relied upon stock phrases," Shank said.

He also mentioned that collections of cards from individuals revealed that senders often would write exactly the same thing to different lovers.

Mid-1800s Valentines
Shank described valentines sent by a college linguistics instructor in the 19th century.

To "Susan" in 1849, the instructor handwrote, "While passions sigh and cupid's dart around us fly from heart to heart tell me, dear one, will love like mine be welcomed in a Valentine?"

Four years later, the instructor sent the exact same lines to another woman, "Catherine."

In 1850, he varied his passage for yet another woman. "This day let me on you impress how fond, my love, and true and ever will to you incline say shall I be your Valentine?"

Shank explained that such would-be Romeos sent valentines on fancy lace paper that could be found at shops next to "valentine writer books" that contained suggested poems and one-liners.

"The sender made the lines his own by his handwriting," Shank explained. "The process was risky if he were to get it wrong, so the valentine books were quite popular."

Equally favored at the time were "vinegar" valentines that Shank said "policed class boundaries."

Examples include a card that addressed the recipient as, "You nasty old bachelor." Yet another had the line, "You want to be my steady male? Well, go stick your head in a pail."

Senders used to be able to mail such cards anonymously. The early postal service required recipients to pay for the card before he or she even opened it, Shank said. More at the Discovery.com web site.

Alas. None of the poll choices work for me. My entire life seems to be centered around "honey, do . . ." lists.

I guess my situation would fall under "gifts - misc." because I bought my husband some of the manly shower gel stuff that he likes and he bought me a new book from one of my favorite authors. He also cooked a wonderful dinner over the weekend for me!

And of course the kids got 'stuff' - even though I rank V-Day as a Hallmark Holiday created for the sole purpose of merchandising I didn't deprive the children of dollar store Valentines and baking cookies, etc.

Since the wife has a birthday on the 8th we ran them together. I hate buying anything for Valentines day but for a birthday, that's different.

We went to Shulas Steak House and went ice fishing.

My wife is a CPA, so to her, there is NOTHING romantic about this time of the year :whip: :bonk: . She even gets on to me for buying flowers that "are just going to die anyway". So, this year I will take her at her word and not buy any flowers.

If I post here tomorrow, it means I did not screw up big time.

We'll still exchange candy though.

Being married for 27yrs. and still being able to have a conversation with my wife and laugh and hug and giggle like little kids, everyday is valentine's day for us. No gifts needed. We are each others gift to each other.

I tell her I love her everyday without fail. I do not buy STUFF to prove love. What a waste of money!! Just show her/him you love them by just asking one question: How was your day? - and love will spill all over because you care.

I went with the flowers since my sweetie lives in Mexico (for now) and I live in Wisconsin, USA. If I were still there on work assignment, I'd have made her dinner :)