In the News: Valentine's Traditions Explained

Love is all around—but it wasn’t in the mail until the mid-nineteenth century, according to Ann C. Colley, SUNY distinguished professor of English. Colley told USA Today reporter Jolie Lee that the establishment of England’s first postal service was one reason that the practice of sending cards on Valentine’s Day began.

Colley told Lee that the cards were sent not only to lovers, but also to people that one didn’t like. Some cards were even satiric political cards. “You could really get back at someone,” said Colley.