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The majority of people in the western world celebrate Valentines Day on the 14th of February. This is a time when old and young alike exchange Valentine's cards and gifts to loved ones. This custom of exchanging greetings on Valentines Day goes back centuries. Historians have found records of Valentine's notes that date back to the 15th century.

There are many different stories to how Valentine's Day began. Some believe that it can be traced to an ancient roman festival called Lupercalia. This was held on the 15th February to ensure protection from wolves,the men struck people with strips of animal hide and women took the blows as they thought the whipping made them more fertile. However others believe that it started with an old English belief that birds choose their mates on the 14th February. Others still link the event to one or more saints of the early Christian church there were at least two saints named valentine. The Roman emperor Claudius in 200 AD forbade young men to marry as single men made better soldiers a priest called Valentine disobeyed and married couples in secret.

In the 15th century people in England celebrated Valentines day by sending romantic verses. In the 17th century Englishwomen wrote men's names on scraps of paper and rolled them into a small piece of clay then threw them water the first one to rise was the name of the woman's true love.

One of the oldest Valentines Day customs was that men would write women's names on pieces of paper and draw one from a jar. The woman whose name he picked would become his valentine, he would pay special attention to his valentine by giving gifts some of the richer men would hold a ball in honor of his valentine.

In the county of Derbyshire young women circled the church 3 or 12 times at midnight and repeated the verse
I sow a hempseed
Hempseed I sow
He that loves me best
Come after me now
Their true love then supposedly appears

During the 18th and 19th century's the custom of sending romantic notes and poems was slowly replaced by giving gifts.

The sale of commercial Valentine cards began in the early 19th century most of these were left blank inside so you could add your own verse. Many of these cards were hand painted and were decorated with dried flowers, feathers and ribbon. Some cards even back then cost as much as 5.

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