The history of Valentine's Day: From its pagan origins to a billion-dollar holiday
Valentine's Day is almost here, but it wasn't always the heart-filled, card-giving, chocolate-gifting holiday we know today. Here's everything you should know about the history of the beloved holiday of love.
Some people think Valentine's is romantic and adorable, some might think it's only there to remind people that they're single and others might think it's just a result of living in a capitalistic society. Regardless of how you feel, Valentine's has been celebrated in one way or another for hundreds of years.
Today, we might celebrate it by making goo-goo eyes at our partners over a bottle of wine, a plate of spaghetti and a bouquet of roses, but ancient Romans celebrated the day with a fertility festival hundreds of years ago with animal sacrifices and drunken merrymaking.
So, here's the indulgent and depraved history of the holiday that brought you conversation heart candies that say "cutie" and "bae."
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When is Valentine's Day?
Valentine's Day is always on February 14th.
In 2025, the holiday just so happens to fall on the Friday ahead of a long weekend for most. Monday Feb. 17 is President's Day.
Why is Valentine's Day on February 14th?
There are different theories as to why the holiday falls in the middle of February, but the month has always been associated with love and relationships, per the History Channel.
Some believe the holiday takes place in February to honor the anniversary of the death of St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, people with epilepsy, and beekeepers, according to Britannica.
However, it is also believed that the Catholic Church chose to place St. Valentine’s feast in the middle of the short month to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival, History Channel states.
At the end of the 5th century, the celebration of Lupercalia was forbidden by Pope Gelasius I, who is often attributed with replacing it with St. Valentine’s Day, according to Britannica.
Lupercalia: Valentine's Day pagan connections
Lupercalia was a debaucherous festival that celebrated the coming of spring.
It included animal sacrifices and drunken revelry to honor Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Men and women were also paired up together through a lottery system in matches that often led to marriage, according to History.com.
Lupercalia was celebrated for centuries in the middle of February, eventually transforming into a Christian celebration honoring St. Valentine as the Roman Empire became less pagan.
How did Valentine's Day become what we know today?
By now, most with significant others (who did NOT procrastinate and wait until the last minute,) have already gone out to buy the requisite greeting cards and chocolates. The flower arrangement deliveries have been arranged and dinner reservations were made well in advance.
But the flowers, cards, candies, and teddy bears people buy for their crushes or partners rake in a lot of cash for retailers worldwide. And that doesn't even include what people spend on their Valentine's Day dinner.
Many of these money-spending traditions can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
You may have read Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" in a high school English literature class, but the poet is also thought to be the source of our modern ideas about Valentine's Day, according to the New York Times.
In a 1981 academic article, the late University of Kansas English professor Jack B. Oruch argued that Chaucer's 1375 poem “Parlement of Foules” was the first to record St. Valentine's Day as a romantic tradition.
How much do Americans spend on Valentine's Day?
This year, Gen Z plans to spend the most on Valentine's and is expected to budget around $235 for V-Day, a CouponFollow survey found. Around one in 10 Zoomers admitted to overspending.
In 2025, consumers are expected to spend $27.5 billion on the holiday, according to the National Retail Federation, NRF.
People are expected to spend $10.2 billion more in 2025 than they did in 2014, the NRF stated. But it isn't that huge of a jump from the amount of money people spent in 2020.
That year, consumers spent $27.4 billion, $6.7 billion more than they did the year before and $5.6 billion more than the year after.
What do people buy the most on Valentine's Day?
Can't see the chart? Click here.
The three most popular Valentine's Day gifts people are expected to buy this year are the following, according to the NRF:
Candy
Flowers
Cards
When did the tradition of Valentine's cards start?
First signs of rudimentary Valentine notes began appearing much later, in the 1500s, according to Britannica. By the middle of the 18th century, it became common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, History.com notes.
The first commercial valentines in the United States were printed in the 1840s thanks to Esther A. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine.” Howland was credited as the first in the U.S. to sell mass-produced valentines made with elaborate lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap," according to History.com.
By the year 1900, printed cards – many featuring the chubby arrow-launching cherub known as Cupid – began to replace written letters as printing technology improved thanks to a burgeoning company that would one day become Hallmark. Today, that same company estimates that 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day second only to Christmas in terms of card-sending holidays.
Where is Valentine's Day celebrated?
These days, Valentine's Day is not just celebrated in the United States, but in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia, too.
February 14 is a way millions across the globe demonstrate their feelings of love and romance.
Contributing: Rachel Barber, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Valentine's Day history: From festivals to heart-shaped cards
