Valentine Day is celebrated on February 14 every year to honour St. Valentine. The association of St. Valentine Day with love and courtship from coincidence of the date with the roman festival of Lupercalia. the festival is believed to have been in honour of faun us, the roman god of flocks and fertility. also know as Lupercus, he was worshipped in a temple on Palatine Hill and the festival was celebrated on February 14. The festival Survived until the 5th century A.D. The Christina Church ended the feast of Lupercalia, transforming it into the feast of St. Valentine . The name St. Valentine is given to two legendary Christina Martyrs whose feast were formerly observed on February 14. One was a roman priest martyred in 269 A.D . The second was bishop of tern martyred in Rome. in 1969 the feast day was dropped from the Vatican calendar. although the origin of greeting card are obscure, it is well documented that in the 6th century B.C. The Egyptians included return messages with their new year gifts . The freat popularity of greeting cards however began in 19th century England and America with cheap efficient colour printing methods and low postage rates.By the 1880's there were hundreds of varieties of mass - printed Christmas , New Year ad Valentine cards . But it was Esther Holland, a 19 - year old American girl , who turned into a global event . She sent several cards with her brother when he went on a sales trip to new york. Much to Her surprise he returned with more than 5000$ in orders Faced with huge order , She asked three best friends to help her. A Valentine assembly line was born at the How land Home . Esther placed first ad in local paper , The Daily Spy on February 5 ,1850. Business grew rapidly and in 1879, The New England Valentine Company was Born. She rented a building and moved the business. She Published 31 pages of verse in a small book called The New England and Valentine Co.'s Verse Book for 1879 , and this book allowed the customer to choose the verse for the card. An Esther How-land original valentine is identified by the mark on the back of the card,either an early How land sticker with a red H or a printed red H. The embossed" NEV CO" is on the later cards.