History of Valentine's Day - Guinness pioneers

If the Guinness Book were older, the pioneers around the Valentine's Day would certainly have been mentioned.

Amazing facts

If the Guinness Book of Records had not been created in the 20th century, it would mention as pioneers of Valentine's Day not only the ancient Romans, but also the Catholic Church, Duke Charles of Orleans, writer Geoffrey Chaucer, England, the USA and Fleurop!

It began with the ancient Romans

Love is in the air - as the ancient Romans used to say. They dedicated February 14 to the goddess Juno. It was then that the love lottery came into being, a custom that completely enthralled the young Romans. They were the first to celebrate the Day of Love on February 14.

Frustration instead of desire

The Church put an end to this way of doing and introduced the saints’ lottery. Needless to say, the theme of «love» was more appealing. In France and England, therefore, people resorted to the love lottery. Nevertheless, the Church helped the Day of Love to get its present name. Namely, when the name days came into being, they dedicated February 14 to St. Valentine. Therefore, it was the Catholic Church that baptized the day of love «Valentine's Day».

Bird dating as the starting signal for Valentine's Day

And the first Valentine's message? It was written on February 14, 1440, by Duke Charles of Orleans, who sent a love message to his wife from the Tower of London. The first poem already existed at that time, however. Geoffrey Chaucer had already completed his «Parliament of Foules» in 1383 so that it could be recited in public at a Valentine's Day celebration at the court of King Richard II. In it, he described how birds gather on Valentine's Day to find a mate.

From a few isolated Valentine's cards to a mass phenomenon

At the end of the 18th century, British printers began to produce sporadic Valentine's cards. But the first mass production of Valentine's cards originated - how could it be otherwise - in the USA. The first one was published in 1849, and around the year 2000, US Americans mailed over a billion of them. Meanwhile, millions of people also use digital media to send Valentine's greetings. Be my Valentine!

Valentine's flowers - possible worldwide early thanks to Fleurop

Whether roses, tulips or orchids: the gift of flowers on Valentine's Day became established early on. For a long time, it was even the Valentine's gift par excellence. When Valentine's Day first became known in the English-speaking world, but later worldwide, people were delighted to learn that, thanks to Fleurop, they could give flowers all over the world. This, of course, at a time when there was no comparable flower delivery network. And this has remained so to this day.