2/12/2014 Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser
 |
| Puppy Love |
It’s February. It’s cold and miserable outside. One minute
it’s hailing and the next minute it’s snowing. I’m grumpy and ready for
springtime. But wait. Can you feel it? Something warm and fuzzy is about to
happen—Valentine’s Day is coming—love is in the air!
The day, of course, is named after St. Valentine. But who
decided that Feb. 14th would be the day when sweethearts declare
their love with gifts and romantic cards? Some say because it was the day when
birds chose their mates. I think that’s a stretch. But really, who cares? It’s
a day for young and old to celebrate romance.
Valentine’s Day is a fun tradition. But when it comes to
celebrating and gift giving, the most important thing to remember is: don’t
forget! A 2013 survey conducted by
the Retail and Marketing Association found that 53% of women who didn’t receive
something for Valentine’s Day would end the relationship!
Every year, about one billion cards are purchased and
sent—mostly by women for men. About 40 million boxes of chocolate are
purchased—mostly by men for women. About 198 million roses (the flowers of
love) are sold—mostly to men for women. Jewelry is another hot item and
accounts for about $4.1 billion in spending—again by men for women. It sounds good
to me.
So ladies, we get off relatively easy. A recent survey showed that men
prefer a gift certificate to their favorite store over that other “stuff.” Of
course, we may have to cook dinner. The survey also found that the vast
majority of couples prefer to enjoy a romantic dinner at home for a fraction of
the $150 cost at a fine restaurant.
Today we enjoy this holiday but we don’t take the meaning of
it as seriously as couples did hundreds of years ago. I think that the
following traditions maybe coined the term “blind date.”
You’ve heard the saying, “wearing your heart on your
sleeve?” Well, in Colonial America, young ladies would write their names on
slips of paper. At a Valentine’s party, young men would draw names out of a
hat. The guy would wear the name of this lady on his sleeve for days to
proclaim her as his valentine. Interesting. It makes me wonder how things
worked out if the wrong name was drawn.
Across the pond, in England, a suitor would leave a basket
of gifts on his beloved’s doorstep and run off. Surprise! In Italy, young
ladies would awaken before sunrise and look out their window. Tradition said
the first man they saw would either look like their future husband or be the
man they would marry. Another surprise!
In Denmark, a man would send a woman a Valentine letter
containing a rhyme and sign it with a series of dots to represent his name. If
the woman guessed his identity correctly on Valentine’s Day he would reward her
with a gift. But I wonder, what if she didn’t like the guy and didn’t want his
gift?
Today’s generation is a bit more cynical. One Valentine’s
season, Meg Pickard and her housemate David Pannet were joking around about the
lack of available cards for those who don’t like the hearts and flowers hype of
the season. According to an article in The Telegraph, UK, their anti-valentine
card idea was born and their first cards were on the web within an hour.
Meg took the idea and ran with it. The cards were cynical,
fun and immensely popular. Most of the sayings can’t be printed here but with
slogans like, “Oh, my ***. Thirty and still single,” they poked fun at the
commercialism of Valentine’s Day. In 2000, they sent out a couple of thousand
cards. By 2005, the cards went past the 200,000 mark.
Meg has since moved on, married, had a child and shut down
the website. But there are others that feel as she did. November 11 is Singles’
Day in China; a type of anti -Valentine’s celebration. It's a day
for young people to celebrate being single and an excuse to log onto
websites where products are sold at half price. Last year, just six minutes
after midnight, $164 million was spent on Tmall.com, China’s version of Amazon
and eBay.
Call me silly but my most memorable Valentine’s Days were in
my youth. As a child, the love and appreciation for others was pure and
innocent. I can still remember sitting at my desk at home and carefully
choosing the person who matched the pictures and verses on each card. I
envisioned my friends doing the same.
All of us then took the cards to school and placed them in a
shoebox decorated with red tissue paper and doilies. Near the end of the day we
had the familiar red punch and homemade cookies party. It was such a thrill to open the
envelopes from your friends, bask in their attention and nibble Sweetheart
candies that said, “Be mine.”
Simple sentiments made us giggle with appreciation: “Roses
are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, just like you!” And it was really
special if a card said, “You’re sugar and spice ‘n everything nice. Say that
you will be my valentine!” Or, “They call it puppy love.” In High School, some
of the more brazen teens would write: “Plenty of love, Tons of kisses. Hope one
day to be your Mrs.”
Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all! (And whatever you do,
don’t forget your sweetie!)
Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox is about people,
places, family, and other matters of the heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment