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Overlook purple roses and different pricey cliches, how do you rejoice Valentine’s Day with out succumbing to commercialism?
Overlook purple roses and different pricey cliches, how do you rejoice Valentine’s Day with out succumbing to commercialism?
It’s tempting (and could be handy) to dismiss Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark vacation” devised by advertising and marketing execs to monetise our feelings. It’s actually large enterprise: US residents will spend a whopping $25.9bn (£20.6bn) on the event this yr, predicts the Nationwide Retail Federation.
That alone might be sufficient to chill the fervour. Nonetheless, opposite to fashionable perception, Valentine’s Day has been round for much longer than capitalism. Whereas no one is aware of for sure its origins, the earliest proof of a Valentine’s letter written in English is from 1477. It was penned by Margery Brews of Norfolk, England, who despatched it to her fiancé John Paston calling him “my proper well-beloved valentine”. The letter is now a part of the British Library’s assortment.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century poem, Parliament of Foules, incorporates an excellent earlier reference to “Seynt Valentynes day”, describing it because the day “whan each foul cometh ther to chese his make” (when birds come to decide on their mates).
Love, then, has been within the air on 14 February lengthy earlier than Hallmark began printing playing cards. It begs a query: how do you rejoice this time-honoured occasion whereas avoiding cliche and commercialism? We might like to know for an article to be printed forward of Valentine’s Day. Become involved by filling out the shape under.
Predominant picture: Brooke Cagle
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