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Despite the considerable variety of gifts and greeting cards - the valentine still remains as the integral attribute of Valentine's Day. In the USA, one of the largest companies manufacturing valentines was Hallmark - the indisputable leader in the industry of greeting cards, which is the first one to suggest the packing of valentines in an envelope. These days, Hallmark, formed by a teenager from the state of Nebraska, manufactures a huge quantity of valentines in over 30 languages worldwide and the valentines are sold in more than 100 countries.
However, to date, some people draw and make valentines with their own hands. For many parents, it is the best gift which they can only receive from children.
With each year, valentines are becoming more and more varied, adopting the latest technologies and progress of science. So, for example, today it is possible to buy a "singing" or “speaking valentine”, on which you can pen any message for your beloved ones.
It is possible to send Valentine's Day greetings through email. On many sites, it is possible to find diversified greeting cards and wishes. Honestly, it can seem a little bit official, which is not characteristic to Lover's Day and wonder whether it is necessary to send a valentine via Internet. Also remember, the entire thing is brilliantly simple.
Symbols associated with Valentine's Day:
In our days, none would be surprised with the fact that one of the most important symbols of Valentine's Day is the heart. During ancient times, the symbol of the heart was a source of all emotions. And only later, it began to associate only with one feeling - love. As a matter of fact, the heart is the most important organ, a sort of pump, which pumps blood through the entire organism, i.e. it is the basis of our life.
Till now, it is not known when and why the heart became a symbol of Valentine's Day. Some scientists believe that the symbol of the heart got a romantic meaning and sin such form, when people for the first time tried to represent the organ, about which they did not know earlier and which, certainly, never could see. But the heart is not a unique symbol of Lover's Day; even symbols of the display of love and fidelity are also considered as symbols of Valentine's Day:
Red roses: Even during ancient times, people considered red roses as a favorite flower of the Roman Goddess of love Venus and hence a bouquet of red roses symbolized huge love presented to the goddess. Also, the red color symbolizes the strong and intense feelings of lovers.
Laces: Earlier many women's kerchiefs were stitched from laces. Many years back, when women dropped the kerchief and the duty of the gentlemen was to pick it up and sometimes, men even fought for this right. At times, having caught the sight of a handsome boy, girls purposefully dropped the kerchief to draw the attention of the man. Therefore, lace kerchiefs were also associated with a ladies flirt (coquettishness) and romanticism.
Love knots: As a token of love, many lovers formed so called “love knots” - they tied alternate eyelets from ribbon or drew knots on paper. Such love knots became a symbol of eternal love.
Lover Birds: Tiny multi-colored birds in Africa are named so for their devotion to each other because they never leave their partners and fly only together, as in the case of all lovers. Pigeons too are considered as symbols of love and fidelity as they are always together and care for the posterity.
One more symbol of love is the symbol of the kiss, the sign "X". Initially, this sign was used in the Mediaeval age, as the signature on documents, i.e., who could not write the letters. Once, one of the illiterate people authorized his signature "X" with a kiss, showing sincerity. That's how the sign "X" was associated with a kiss. However, there are some theories as to how the sign "X" originated. For example, some people believe that this sign simply symbolizes the slightly inclined cross and others argue that, it is the first letter in the name of Christ, as "X" or as the symbol "Chi" is the 22nd letter in Greek alphabets, which designates Jesus Christ in the Church. In the due course of time, valentines became more varied and the first post offices appeared, due to which, it was possible to send a greeting postcard to any country in the world. Since it was very expensive to send valentines through the post till the 18th century, many people brought their valentines for their loved ones on their own.
Ester Howland was the first one to make greetings cards for Valentine's Day and got good profits on the sale of the first commercial American valentines. Today, over 2000 publishing houses of greeting cards are registered only in the USA.
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