In winter, as the icy grip of the season is upon us and the lustful grip of lovers increase, February was deemed the "official" month of love. The truth is love and romance occur all year, but many hundreds of years before us, the tradition of Valentine's Day began. With its origins shrouded in mystery, there are two main theories explaining how February 14th became synonymous with romance.

The first theory is based on the honoring of Juno, queen of the Roman goddesses of women and marriage. (Her name later became the month of June, for the month of marriages.) The ancient pagan fertility celebration was held on February 14, the day before the feast began. During the festival, women wrote their names and put them in a large urn. The men of Rome would then draw a note from the urn and ardently pursue the woman who wrote the message they had chosen. This custom of selecting a lover by lottery drawings continued into the 18th century, coming to an end when people decided they'd rather choose their mate by sight. Even though, this ritual was not named, it was the first trace of a valentine.

Controversy began when archaeologists unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine. Believing single soldiers would be more likely to join his army, Roman Emperor Claudius II banned all marriages to soldiers. A Christian priest, Valentine, continued to practice his religion and secretly performed marriages. Claudius had Valentine executed by stoning and then beheaded on February 14, 270 C.E. Before his execution, Valentine sent the jailer's daughter a note and signed it "from your Valentine" and that phrase became the prominent saying on the cards to this day.

In early French history, a custom known as "calling for" occurred. Unmarried individuals would go into houses facing each other and begin calling out across from one window to another, pairing with the chosen partner. If the young man did not seem enthralled with his chosen valentine, he would desert her. As a result, a bonfire would be lit and the ladies burned images of the ungrateful sweetheart and verbally abused him in loud tones as the effigy burned. Eventually the French government officially banned this ritual as it left much room for nastiness, ridicule, or even outright malice.

In exchange for this ritual, over a century ago, the French turned to elegant love postcards. The cards contained tender, personal messages. They were not given just on Valentine's Day, but as "every day" cards as a way to express intimate, private feelings to the one they loved, many times writing personal notes to each other under the stamp. The love postcards were collected, cherished, and saved by lovers, as vows of the deep passion they felt for each other.

Today, the postcards of intimate love are becoming less and less available, as collectors realize once they are gone there will be no more. And by all standards of the Valentine's Day industry today, as long as we seem happy to give each other little candy hearts with a silly message on the top, we will continue to get what we give!