|
MarketEntrance Open Market Search the Market Buy Direct Directory Booths Bulletin Board Kitchen
Supply Beverages Books Clothing Collectibles Energy Farming Farm Produce Farm Supply Gift Shop Handmade Health/Beauty Holiday Home & Garden Meat Nuts and Grains Organics Outlet Pet Supply Plants/Seeds Seafood Specialty Foods Tools Bites
Book Stall Contests Corral Farm Direct Farm Fresh Farm Kitchen Gamesmanship Growth Spurts Have You Tried? Here's How To Home Grown Home Made Husbandry In Season Market Watch Open Air Outrider Recipe Archive Rural Delivery See the Movie Selling Points Value Added Book Search |
When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men in order to ensure his supply of soldiers. Valentine, it is said, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When word of Valentine's matrimonies leaked out, Claudius ordered that he be put to death on February 14, 269 A.D. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. As early as 1822, an English official reported having to hire extra postal workers on this day. Economic Value American consumers are expected to spend approximately $8 billion on Valentine's Day gifts in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation. That's an average of $168 per shopper. In 2011, approximately 200 million roses were sold, according to The Society of American Florists. Valentine Romance The first literary association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer: For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make. The poem was composed in honor of the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. Most readers of the poem incorrectly assume that Chaucer is referring to February 14 as Valentine's Day. Mid-February, however, is an unlikely time for birds to be mating in England. It is more likely that he is referring to May 2, the liturgical calendar's saints' day for Valentine of Genoa, an early bishop who died around AD 307. This kind of
floral code, known as "florigraphy," was especially
popular among the romantics of Victorian England about a hundred years
ago. Each flower and tree had a meaning all its own. Presenting sprigs
or blooms from a given plant was a shorthand way of saying "it was love
at first sight!" (thornless roses) or "I am your slave forever" (wild
geraniums). |
 Gold Foil Rose  Double Heart Window Light  Roses  Lava Cakes Recipe  Valentine Light Set  Flowers 
Perfect Recipes for Spicing Up Your Love Life  The Gift Shop |
