The History of Valentines
Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.
Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700’s and by the 1900’s, printed cards began to replace written letters.
Today an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
Did you ever wonder how different cultures celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Here are some interesting facts
The Chinese have celebrated their own “Day of Love” for centuries? In China the equivalent of Valentine’s Day is the “Qixi Festival,” which means “The Night of Seven,” and is celebrated usually in early August, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This tradition recalls an old ancestral story that has been passed from generation to generation for centuries.
This love tragedy tale tells the story of two stars in the Milky Way, one of them a fairy named Zhinu who married a mortal young man named Niulang. They fell in love at first sight, and when they got married the Goddess of Heaven became so furious that she created the Milky Way just to separate them
One day isn’t enough to celebrate Valentine’s in Argentina, land of Tango. Argentinians take a week to celebrate the occasion. In addition to February 14th they set aside seven days in July for “sweetness week.” From the 13th to the 20th, lovers and friends will exchange candies and kisses. This week typically ends with “Friendship Day”.
The celebration for Valentine’s Day in Germany is popular among the locals, but is not especially commercial as in other parts of the world. Lovers will exchange not only chocolates, flowers, and heart shaped gifts, but a special something else for this celebration: a pig! The pig represents luck.
Of course in Italy, the “Day of Love” is celebrated in classic style with a spring Festival! On Valentine’s day couples get together to enjoy music, poetry and exchange gifts like the “baci perugina,” a box of small hazelnut-filled chocolate “kisses” (baci means “kiss” in Italian) Also, according to old tradition, the first man a girl sees that day will become her husband and they would be married within a year Paris, “The city of love” is practically the world capital of Valentine’s Day, as couples from around the globe flock here for the special day.
On Valentine’s Day, lovers in France exchange letters and cards, a world-wide tradition that claims its origins in France! History says that the Duke of Orleans, Charles, wrote the first Valentine’s card, because he signed his poem as “Your Valentine.
Break with the old traditions and try something special by celebrating Valentines Day with one of our Valentines Day Specials. Treat your special someone with a Valentines Gift for her or a Valentines Gift for him with a Sanctuary Salon Gift Card or a romantic Valentines Gift by scheduling a Couples Spa Day.
Click here to check out our Special Valentine’s Day Spa Packages.
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