In finding gift ideas for your special someone for Valentine's Day, it may help to understand the history of the holiday. Valentine’s Day wasn’t created by greeting card companies or florists. Gift giving has a long and rich tradition that spans across cultures. Valentine’s Day and its gift ideas evolved from one of those traditions into what we celebrate today.
The holiday dates back to the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia, a three day rite that centered around the Lupa, the she-wolf who legend says suckled the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. Sacrifices would be made to the gods and young men would run through the streets of Rome with makeshift whips fashioned from the skins of the sacrificed animals. Women and young girls would line the streets hoping receive a lash from one of the whips which was supposed to guarantee fertility and reduce pain during childbirth. (This is not one of the gift ideas we suggest!)
It wasn’t until the 14th century, however, that the holiday began to be associated with love and romance. By that point, Pagan feasts like Lupercalia had been replaced by celebrations of Christian figures and saints. The Catholic church chose to honor two martyrs who were known as Valentine in place of Lupercalia, which really put a damper on some of the more. . . earthy gift ideas that had been going around.
It was poet Geoffery Chaucer who made the first known association of Valentine’s Day and love when he wrote about birds choosing their mates on St. Valentine’s Day (hence the term “lovebirds” as well). Birds are nice gift ideas, but a bit messy.
The ensuing Middle Ages were a time when courtly love was celebrated and St. Valentine’s Day became the centerpiece. It is believed the first Valentine gift was given by the Duke of Orleans, imprisoned in the Tower of London, who wrote a poem to his wife in honor of the day, referring to her as his “sweet Valentine.” Little did he know he was giving birth to the greeting card industry, and all the gift ideas that followed.
Flash forward to Victorian England where, with the creation of mail delivery, it became customary to send Valentine’s messages to others. These would often be handmade and embroidered with ribbon and lace. Later, factories emerged to make these gifts. Additionally,
gift ideas such as chocolates and flowers would accompany the message.
The American contribution came in the form the greeting card. Apparently Americans weren’t creative enough to come up with their own Valentine’s messages and gift ideas, so they outsourced it. Greeting card companies would create a romantic message contained within a card that could be bought and sent.
Through colonization, Valentine’s Day became popular the world over and is practiced in similar forms throughout the world.
So if you’re thinking that coming up with
gift ideas for Valentine’s Day is difficult, just remember, it’s a lot easier now than it used to be, and Gifts that Give can help you with your choices. Not only do we offer some high-end designer gifts, we give 20% of your purchase to your favorite charitable organization. So, $1 out of every $5 is given as a charitable gift to the nonprofit of your choice. And I’m sure that special someone will greatly appreciate the card, flowers, and other gift ideas rather than a goat or a lashing from an animal skin whip.
