Tag Archives: February 14th

How to Celebrate Anti Valentine’s Day

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Happy Anti Valentine’s Day!

Let’s face it. Not everyone is in love or part of a twosome, couple, better half or long- term relationship. While Valentine’s Day is for lovers, a growing trend in recent years has been for singles and those otherwise ‘unattached’ to literally boycott Valentine’s Day. All done in good fun, the fad seems to be taking not only the United States, but also the world, by storm.

Every February 14th, lovers and couples around the United States enjoy receiving and giving cards that gush romantic poems, flowers and candy, stuffed animals and any other treats and goodies that millions of Americans purchase every year. However, doing so leaves singles out of the day’s festivities. Recently, typical American wit and subtle and humorous sarcasm entered the mix. Greeting cards that glorify singleness are hitting the card shelves, and one of America’s largest greeting card manufacturers, American Greetings, has added nearly a dozen ‘Anti Valentine’s Day’ cards to their lineup. Whether attached or not, men and women of all ages want to be able to participate in the traditional holiday, but are, depending on how you look at it, fortunate or unfortunate not to have someone to celebrate the day of couples with.

Greeting card companies are also leaning toward providing picky Americans with less sentimental cards meant only for lovers and couples, adding cards which are more suited to close friends rather than soul mates. Hallmark Cards, another leading manufacturer of greeting cards, has offered humorous Valentine’s Day offerings for years and believes the trend toward more subtle Valentine wishes is due largely to the types of television shows aired today. Today’s couples and almost-couples are leaning away from traditional, syrupy offerings and go for humor and generic, friendship-geared cards.

Valentine’s Day is an important day for florists, candy and greeting card companies. It’s a day when money is exchanged in bulk. Companies have spent decades building many holidays to their benefits, which is natural and to be expected, but you can bet that they are watching the trend toward celebrating individuality and singleness rather than just focusing their attentions on couples. Young people are a major portion of Valentine’s Day marketing endeavors, and 21st century lovers are not what they used to be in the 19th century. Every year, greeting card companies sell nearly 200 million Valentine’s cards alone, and while some of those are the cards purchased by school children, the vast majority is not. Even American Greetings Card Company states that their biggest sellers are cynical humor offerings, which seem to appeal to the younger crowd.

Many Americans are protesting the consumerism that is involved in so many holiday festivities and customs, and for them, Anti Valentine’s Day is a day to protest such a rampant trend. They refuse to purchase due to peer pressure and expectations and do their own thing instead. They utilize popular online card company offerings to save paper, or purchase cards from local artists, shunning the huge card conglomerates.

A disturbing trend? Perhaps. However, Americans have always enjoyed testing boundaries and customs, and perhaps Valentine’s Day is no different. Why not mix up the rule? Is there any law against change? What started off as a joke for some unattached men and women in America has become a new trend in marketing holiday traditions. While February 14th will always be a day for lovers, the future also sees it as being a day that celebrates singles and friends and relationships that are not quite at the level of making that everlasting commitment. Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your better half or alone, take heart in the fact that America, and Americans around the country, will be celebrating with you.

How To Celebrate Valentine’s Day

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Celebrating Love on Valentine’s Day

Love is in the air every February, especially leading up to February 14th, officially recognized as Valentine’s Day in the United States and throughout much of the world. It’s a day for romance and the expression of love in many shapes and forms. It’s a day for candy and flowers, for heartfelt sentiments and dreams of finding true love.

Several legends exist which claim to know how the exchange of love tokens and words became known as Valentine’s Day. The first is that during the Middle Ages, it was believed that birds would first find a mate for spring around the middle of February. Others go back even further, to the times of the ancient Romans and Greeks. In one Roman festival and feast, the names of young women and men were placed in a container. The name of one man would be drawn, followed by the name of a woman to whom he was destined to protect for the following year. He wore her name on his sleeve and she became his valentine. This custom generally took place on February 14th.

As time progressed, the exchange of gifts was added to the drawing of names, and later still, it was the male who presented the female with gifts. From this came a custom of sending a greeting or small gifts. Others believe that the celebration was created to honor St. Valentine, a priest who served at a temple in the time of the Roman emperor Claudius. He was very popular, and after the emperor declared that no more marriages were to be performed due to his needs for men in the military, St. Valentine nevertheless continued to unite young couples in the holy state of matrimony. St. Valentine was thrown into prison, where he died, but his spirit to help young couples in love lives on to this day.

The first postal services in the American colonies were inundated with such greetings and cards on February 14th, and over the years the tradition grew until local businesses began to carry collections of pre-designed cards for the young people to purchase for a penny. In the Victorian era, Valentine’s Day became quite the rage, with elaborate cards and parties designed to keep the youth entertained. In the United States, Valentine’s Day has always offered quite a challenge to the postal service, and in the early 1900’s, over a million Valentine greetings were mailed. Candy favors made an appearance soon after, and young suitors offered their ladies sweet concoctions designed to melt their hearts and flowers to encourage their spirits toward the return of such affections. Today, school children as well as adults traditionally exchange Valentine cards, sweets and flowers in tokens of love and affection that has not waned since the first Valentine’s Day was celebrated. Red hearts and white lace doilies make an appearance in supermarkets and card stores throughout the country well before the date, as do tokens of affection such as stuffed animals and trinkets designed to bring a smile to lovers everywhere.

Many American towns and cities host Valentine’s parties and get-togethers, complete with decorations, beverages and foods from all over the world. Valentine’s Day in America is a time to cherish those close to your heart. It’s a time when matchmaking between couples heats up, as do blind dates and others in search of their soul mate. Valentine’s Day is a time for couples and those hoping to find their better half, and Cupid and his arrows aimed at the hearts of unsuspecting, but potential, lovers, flit around with reckless abandon. Valentine’s Day is set aside for romance and togetherness between couples of all ages, a day when love is truly in the air.