Why is February 14th, (Saint) Valentine's Day, such a cash cow 💰💸🐄🐮for Hallmark, florists & chocolatiers? 🎴💟🍫🎕
While a lot of stories turn out to be urban myths, Geoffry Chaucer's poem "The Parlement of Foules" ["The Parliament of Fowls"], written around 1375, seems to be a real reason why.
From Chaucer, in Middle English:
For this was on Seint Valenteyns day
When every foul cometh ther to chese his make...
As they were wont alwey fro yeer to year,
Seint Valenteyns day to stonden there...
Seint Valentyn, that art ful hy on-lofte
Thus syngen smale foules for thy sake...
-OR-
For this was on Saint Valentine's Day,
When every fowl comes there to choose his mate...
As they regularly do from year to year
On Saint Valentine's Day staying firmly there...
Saint Valentine, that is fully lifted up (upon us)
Thus sing small fowls for your sake...
What? This holiday morphed from something quasi-Christian to a poem about bird love to a serious cash layout to show you really care?
There were possibly up to three Valentines who lived in the third century A.D., when Christians were being persecuted by Romans. Possibly one or more died on February 14th.
The stories about Valentine speak of love, but not romantic love. It is a "fraternal" love for brother and sister Christians, played out by extreme sacrifice.
However, prior to that, the Romans had looked at February as a "month for lovers", so that may have influenced why Chaucer set his meeting of the birds on St. Valentine's Day. Ordinarily, that seems a bit early for mating season in England.
So, if you're done with the V-D routine, try something different. Offer to read your loved one Chaucer's poem in Middle English. That ought to kill any over-the-top romantic expressions (unless you're both majoring in older English literature). 😅
If you're Christian, you could always view the theatrically released movie Paul, the Apostle of Christ as a family. That movie shows the type of love Valentine was said to exhibit.
Happy Valentine's Day!
