Updated on September 9, 2026
Valentine’s Day traces back to a Roman feast day honoring early Christian martyrs named Valentine, later merged with a much older pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia, and it did not become associated with romance until English poet Geoffrey Chaucer linked the day to courtship in the late 1300s. Everything most people now associate with the holiday, cards, chocolate, and flowers, arrived centuries later, largely through the printing and confectionery industries of the 19th century.
The team at Bagoff Dental Arts in West Orange enjoys sharing a bit of holiday history with our patients each year, right alongside a reminder that a healthy smile is always in style, especially on a day known for candy and chocolate. Here is the surprisingly tangled story behind February 14th.
The Three Saints Named Valentine
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different martyrs named Valentine, all executed in the third century, and historians still are not certain which one, if any single one, the holiday actually honors. One legend holds that Valentine was a priest in Rome who defied an imperial ban on marriage for young soldiers, secretly performing weddings until he was caught and executed. Another points to a bishop of Interamna, a town in what is now central Italy, who was beheaded for refusing to renounce his faith. A third account describes a Valentine martyred in North Africa. Because the details are so tangled across all three men, some historians believe two of the legends may actually describe the same person.
Lupercalia: The Pagan Festival Behind the Timing
Long before it was a saint’s day, mid-February was already associated with fertility and courtship in ancient Rome through a festival called Lupercalia. Held in mid-February, the celebration involved priests known as the Luperci sacrificing animals at a sacred site and then running through the streets with strips of hide, which Roman women reportedly welcomed as a symbol of fertility for the year ahead. When the early Christian church moved to suppress the festival at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th a feast day for Saint Valentine instead. Modern historians debate how directly Lupercalia shaped the modern holiday, but the timing overlap is well documented.
How Valentine’s Day Became a Holiday for Lovers
The romantic version of Valentine’s Day did not take hold until the late Middle Ages. English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is generally credited as the first writer to connect the day with romance, in his 1380s poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” describing February 14th as the day birds choose their mates. William Shakespeare and other writers picked up the theme in the centuries that followed, and by the 1700s handwritten valentines exchanged between courting couples had become common across England and, soon after, the American colonies.
From Handwritten Notes to Mass-Produced Cards
The first mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards appeared in the 1840s, as printing technology made it far cheaper to produce cards decorated with lace, ribbons, and romantic verse. Anonymous valentines became a popular way for young lovers to exchange feelings in an era when open displays of affection were frowned upon. As the 19th century progressed, printers scaled up production considerably, and the custom of exchanging cards each February became firmly established in American culture. Today, Americans exchange an estimated 190 million valentines each year, a figure that climbs even higher once cards traded by schoolchildren are counted.
Chocolate, Flowers, and the Rise of a Billion-Dollar Holiday
Chocolate became tied to the holiday in the 1860s, when British confectioner Richard Cadbury packaged chocolates in decorated heart-shaped boxes designed to be kept and reused, turning them into a keepsake rather than just candy. That marketing innovation helped push Valentine’s Day chocolate sales past a billion dollars annually in the United States today, with roughly 35 million heart-shaped boxes sold each year. Flowers followed a similar trajectory. Red roses became linked to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and florists now sell close to 200 million stems around the country in the days surrounding February 14th alone.
Valentine’s Day in the Digital Age
The rise of the internet added a new chapter to the holiday’s history. E-cards became a popular, low-cost way to send Valentine’s Day greetings starting in the late 1990s, and social media has since layered on new customs of its own, from public relationship announcements to viral candy heart trends each February. Despite the shift to digital, physical cards, chocolate, and flowers remain the most common ways Americans mark the day, a reminder that even a 1,700-year-old holiday keeps finding new ways to stay relevant. If you enjoyed this dive into the holiday’s backstory, our deeper look at Valentine’s Day origins covers even more of the folklore behind February 14th.
Celebrating a Sweet Holiday Without Losing Sight of Your Smile
Valentine’s Day usually means more sugar than an average week, whether that is a box of chocolates from a partner or a bag of candy hearts from a classroom exchange. None of that means the holiday has to take a toll on your teeth. Rinsing with water after indulging, choosing chocolate over sticky or hard candy when possible, and sticking to your normal brushing routine that evening all go a long way toward keeping the holiday sweet in more ways than one. If a bright smile is part of your Valentine’s Day plans, treatments like our professional teeth whitening are worth considering with enough lead time before the big day. And if it has been a while since your last cleaning, February is as good a time as any to get back on schedule before the rest of the year’s holidays and celebrations arrive.
Whatever your plans this February 14th, from a quiet night in to a night out with the people you love, we hope it is a day worth celebrating. New to the practice? Take a look at our new patient information to see what a first visit involves. If you are due for a cleaning or simply want to keep your smile bright for the occasion, reach out through our contact form to schedule a visit, and check out our gift ideas for another upcoming holiday while you are at it.
Frequently Asked Questions About the History of Valentine’s Day
Who was the real Saint Valentine?
Historians are not certain, since the Catholic Church recognizes at least three martyrs named Valentine, all executed in the third century. The most common legend describes a Roman priest executed for secretly performing marriages after they were outlawed for young soldiers.
Why is Valentine’s Day celebrated on February 14th?
Pope Gelasius declared February 14th a feast day for Saint Valentine at the end of the 5th century, around the same time the church was working to suppress a pagan mid-February fertility festival called Lupercalia that had long been celebrated on a similar date.
When did Valentine’s Day become associated with romance?
The romantic connection began in the late 1300s with English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who described February 14th as the day birds choose their mates in his poem “The Parliament of Fowls.” The tradition of exchanging cards did not become common until centuries later.
When did people start exchanging Valentine’s Day cards?
Handwritten valentines became common in the 1700s, but the first mass-produced cards were not printed until the 1840s, once printing technology made decorated cards affordable to manufacture at scale.
Why are chocolate and roses associated with Valentine’s Day?
British confectioner Richard Cadbury popularized heart-shaped chocolate boxes in the 1860s, turning candy into a keepsake gift. Roses became linked to the holiday through their association with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
