Valentine's Day

Roses Are Red

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Carnations are sweet

And so are you.

And so is he

That sends you this

And when we meet

We'll have a kiss

When I was a kid, boys and girls used to send each other Valentine's cards, and write little poems in them, like the one above.

I was always jealous, because I never got any. My best friend, who was very handsome, got 18 one year. What a bore! On the outside of the envelope you would write S.W.A.L.K. - sealed with a loving kiss. But you never put your name. So, all the girls would run around screeching: "Who sent me this? Who sent me this?"

Actually, Saint Valentine had nothing to do with love, and like Christmas and Easter and other such holidays, Valentine's Day started with the Victorians, in 19th Century England. Card makers and flower sellers and shopkeepers found out you could make a lot of money from people celebrating holidays. They would attract people with beautiful displays in their shop windows and run promotions to get people spending.

The practice then spread to America, and eventually all around the world. Nowadays, not a lot of people send cards by mail anymore. It's all done by email. Will you be sending a special someone a Valentine's greeting this weekend?