Happy Wallenstein's Day

Not many people know that Valentine's day is a relatively recent invention.  It was thought up at the turn of the last century by a Jewish card manufacturer in New York called Solomon Wallenstein (the W being pronounced as a V as in the German).  He found that card sales were very slow between Christmas and Easter.  In the nineteenth century,  infant mortality rates were much higher in winter and so fewer people had birthdays in January and February.  Consequently the sale of greeting cards dropped in the winter months. 

Wallenstein's innovative solution to this problem was to create a celebration for lovers in the middle of February.  He knew that most celebrations were based on medieval religious holidays so he dug out a long forgotten saint and created a story around him.  Having a sense of humour,  he chose a saint whose name sounded similar to his own - St.Valentine.  With some help from his journalist friends,  the re-discovery of this ancient tradition was publicised and marketed.  Wallenstein made a fortune from selling his cards across America and a new tradition was born.

The reason that so few people know this story is because it is complete rubbish.  I made it up when I was in the sixth form and I have been rolling it out at this time of year ever since.  Every year people readily believe it,  in fact,  as time goes on it has become easier to convince people.  When I first told the story at school,  hardly anyone believed me.  These days most people swallow it.  This could be because I have just got better at telling it or that most people I went to school with thought I was a nutter (many of them still do)  and so assumed that I was talking rubbish.  Or it could be that adults are more ready to believe such tales. 

People love stories that show how the general public has been duped by a few wily profiteers.  If there is a link to corrupt people in the media, so much the better.  Add in the whiff of a Jewish plot and you have all the ingredients of a great conspiracy theory.  My story is a bit of mischief that I trot out every year. After a suitable interval,  I usually tell people that it is complete rubbish.  Many of them are disappointed to hear that it is not true - they would rather believe my story than the original legend of Valentine's day.  It just goes to show that we all love a good conspiracy.

Happy Wallenstein's Day!

Comments

[MatGB]

That, is very cool. I think I shall spread this little bit of cynicism around a bit. You're nuts, y'know that?

*goes back to sit down in his glass house*

[Steve]

Funny, they used to say that at school too - and that was just the teachers.

[Mark Wadsworth]

It's a great story, but where it doesn't ring true is "thought up", you should have said "reintroduced" and early 20th century is too recent, you should have said late 19th century, and you shouldn't say "a celebration for lovers" rather you should have said he picked St Valentine first (for obvious reasons) and then worked out what he was patron saint of. That'd be much more convincing. Oh, and steer clear of mentioning 'New York', that's too obvious, say 'Pittsburgh' or 'Chicago' something.

[AgainsTTheWall]

"people readily believe it, in fact, as time goes on it has become easier to convince" We are all so gullible. For years I believed that the Germans gassed millions with insecticide without leaving a trace...