Slightly baffled

[valis2]

Where did the idea that Valentine's Day is a "greeting card company holiday" come from? I mean, according to Wikipedia, it's been around for a while. I had always heard the story of Saint Valentine in school.

Someone on the radio in WI was talking about how it's a holiday made up by the greeting card industry, but that's not true. And then I read it somewhere on my flist, I think. It's not like Grandparent's Day. It's an old holiday.

Comments

[fer-de-lance.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. I suspect what people who say that mean is that the holiday's current incarnation -- a day for appreciation of one's sexual/romantic partner -- is industry-generated. (If you asked ten people in the street what the meaning/history of Valentine's Day was, I doubt even one of them would know it was created for a saint who married people despite a law against it, never mind the circumstances or how he died or anything.)