Last year Americans spent over 20 billion dollars for the holiday known as “St. Valentine’s Day”. Every year this holiday takes an intense amount of criticism for how it is commercialized and used as a tactic for businesses to make easy money.

To me, Valentine’s day is just a “Hallmark holiday” and some people even put it in the same category as holidays like grandparent’s day and Boss’s Day.

The origin of the holiday has been dated back to a festival to commemorate the anniversary of St. Valentine’s death which was projected to have been around the time of A.D 270. However, Valentine’s day wasn’t declared an actual holiday on February 14^th until the end of the 5^th century when Pope Gelasius officially declared it a holiday.

Others say that this holiday was based off St Valentine who was a priest who discouraged the idea of such a vague meaning of love.

There is some proven history of this holiday and it has truly become a very commercialized and expensive day for men across the U.S and the world.

The original Valentine’s day was a celebration of St. Valentine and included a festival of feasts and lots of drinking. Saint Valentine was a saint in the 3^rd century who is associated with courtly love. But in little time, this Catholic and Celebratory holiday turned into a commercial opportunity for the Hallmark company.

The first official Valentine’s Day card was produced by Hallmark and they have had a death grip on American’s ever since. From advertising Valentine’s Day, from the day after Christmas, or guilting people spend more money.

There are some good messages to bring from this though. February 14^th represents another day where you should show appreciation for the people you care most about in your life. From your significant other to your family and friends, this Valentine’s Day, I recommend doing something nice like making dinner and buying flowers for people you care about. But make sure to steer clear of Hallmark’s corporate schemes!