When we read about the declining global birth rate, the idea of romantic love comes into question.  Do “love and marriage” really “go together like a horse and carriage now?”   Is the concept of “courtly love” out of date like the antique carriages that we only see in old movies? Now more people are single, or couples live together without being married.  Do young people dream of the same happy ending that was the goal of those beautiful people acting in Hollywood before 1975?

 According to an online article titled “Valentine’s Day’s History is deeper than you think” by Cameron Jenkins and Lillian Nella, Valentine’s Day was started by the Roman Catholic Church. It honors a martyr named Valentine, who married young couples when Emperor Claudius would not allow his soldiers to be married.

 Also, there was thought to be another St. Valentine who helped Christians escape from prison.  After he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, his help for Christians was discovered.  When the Roman ICE agents came to take Mr. Valentine away, he left a love letter for the jailer’s daughter signed, “from your Valentine.”  

 The idea of Cupid representing erotic love came from Eros in Greek mythology who had the power to make people fall madly in love.  Later in Roman times Eros was called Cupid, and he was thought to look like an angelic child holding a bow and arrows ready to pierce the hearts of lovers.  By the 1800s Cupid’s image was used on Valentine’s Day cards.

 Originally romantic couples made their own Valentine cards and baked treats or picked flowers when they could be found in spring.  Ester A. Howland was the “Mother of the American Valentine” after she began selling cards with lace and ribbons.  By the 1840s printers began to mass-produce Valentine cards.

 Now Hallmark reports that we pay $145 million for cards each year. Popular gifts include chocolate candies in heart-shaped boxes and red roses by the dozens. 

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spend $5.5 billion on jewelry and nearly $4.4 billion on special evenings out for Valentine’s Day.  

 Love makes our economy warmer on cold February Valentine’s Days.