Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Valentine's Day is a Scam

Yes, I said it. And I sell jewelry...which is a classic gift for Valentine's day.

But I haven't liked this "holiday" for years.

It's estimated that people spend ONE BILLION dollars on cards for Valentine's Day. Seriously? That's a LOT of money. Fancy manufactured cards gained popularity long ago - in the 1800s...from Wikipedia:

Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.[50] The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt.[51] As a writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."[52] In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.[53][54]

It wasn't until the 1980s when the diamond industry took notice of this "holiday" and started promoting their products as the must have item for true love.


I have come to really loathe this mass produced holiday. We are doing Valentine's day cards for the kids at Marshal's school today ... that is a tradition that I really did love as a kid in elementary school.

But as an adult, I've told my husband NOT to buy me anything. And I'm not just saying that...I mean it. He knows how serious I am too. I feel it's a made up holiday that consumers are sucked into and made to feel like they must spend their money...sometimes hundreds of dollars or more, in order to "prove" their love.

I had a wonderful coworker at my last job, who sadly has passed on at a much too young age, who I remember getting upset with her husband for getting her roses from Costco instead of a fancy delivery service. Seriously upset. Now, she was a wonderful person who I adored but she was nuts in this case. I would have been thrilled that my husband was so thrifty and logical. Although now I'd still be mad at the waste of money.

So, even though I make and sell jewelry in my Etsy shop, I have not actively promoted (other than a few passing mentions on Facebook) my jewelry as an option for Valentine's day.

If you enjoy and celebrate it, fabulous. We won't be joining you among the crowds at dinner nor will we be investing in cards or gifts for each other. We love each other every day and do various special things to show our love...we don't need a designated day...where florists raise their prices!

1 comment:

  1. *Gag*...please delete the last sentence. No one wants to hear that!

    ReplyDelete