Oh where does this Valentine's tradition come from
anyway, you ask? Actually, the history of Valentine's Day is somewhat of a
secret. The Party Girl loves secrets, and they're so fitting for this time of
year. It seems that the ancient Christian Romans had something to do with it,
dating as far back as the 3rd century. Romans held the parties of all parties,
a festival on February 15th, called Lupercalia, in honor of the Roman god
Lupercus. He kept mean and terrifying wolves away from people then. At any
rate, one of the traditions of Lupercalia was for young men to draw the names
of young women who would become their sweethearts for the duration of the
festival, sometimes even for the whole year! That would not have bided well
with the Party Girl, I tell you!
As for Valentine's Day itself, legend has it that an adventurous Roman priest
named Valentine secretly married young soldiers to their betrothed at a time
when Roman Emperor Claudius forbid them to marry for fear that they would
object to fighting in his testosterone wars. Valentine was caught and punished
by death on February 14th, the night before the Lupercalia festival. We think
Valentine was beheaded-yuck!
Valentine made a love connection himself, before death, when he fell in love with a prison guard's daughter. Supposedly, just before his public torture, he
left a note for the young girl thanking her for the time she spent with him and
signed it "from your Valentine." Eventually he became the saint for
romance-what a legacy! At some point, the Lupercalia festival and Valentine's
death came to mean that February 14th was the international day for celebrating
love.
Make your own Valentine's Day history by doing something special for your loved
ones with the help of the
Party Girl and
Party411!
Check out our fun and exciting Valentine's Day
personalized
products and
decorations.