ENTERTAINMENT
The University Daily
KANSAN
February 14, 1984 Page 6
Cupid's day still a heartfelt tradition
By MELISSA BAUMAN Staff Reporter
How many Hallmark greeting cards are sold for Valentine's Day? Where did the holiday get its name? How many American Top 40 songs begin with "love is?"
These comic cards, called the "penny dreadfuls" were insulting and sometimes cruel. Some of the cards even left space for the sender to write his own insult.
From the Christian St. Valentine legend came the practice of sending valentines, which are the first known greeting cards. They gained in popularity about 1840 when they were first mass produced.
Although Valentine's Day is traditionally a day of romance, it is also a day rich in facts, figures and history for trivia lovers.
Valentine's Day is thought to have originated from the death of St. Valentine, a Christian priest, who was executed Feb. 14, 270. At that time, Christianity was illegal in Rome, and Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought it made men weak-willed in battle.
Originally valentine cards in the Victorian era were romantic, ornate and sentimental. The comic valentine also became popular during this time—perhaps as a backlash against the sickly-sweet Victorian valentine, according to the Antique Journal.
WHEN VALENTINE PERFORMED marriages despite the emperor's orders, he was imprisoned. While in prison, he miraculously cured the jailer's blind daughter. And the night before his execution, he sent her a note signed "From your Valentine." Unfortunately, he was beheaded the next day.
TO ADD TO THE INSULT, many of the card recipients had to pay the postage because England had a penny-post system in which the recipient rather than the sender paid the postage.
Most Valentine's Day customs through the ages involved choosing a spouse. In the 1700's young European women pinned bay leaves to their pillows the night before Valentine's Day so that they would dream about their future husbands.
One of the most popular verses read: "If you'd lassoo a real live man
IN THE 18TH CENTURY the elders in French villages matched single women and men on Valentine's Day by calling their names randomly from a list. If a young man was not pleased with his partner, he was burned in effigy.
Although the Catholic Church declared Valentine a saint because of his martyrdom, the church removed his name from its official list of saints in 1969 because it questioned his existence.
— And lasso him, as you only can, — Then cut his throat and shoot him through. — He might be coaxed to marry you."
Although these insulting comic valentines died out by 1940, Valentine's Dav cards still remain big business.
They were first commercially produced in the United States in the 1840s. Their creator, Esther A. Howland, sold more than $5,000 in cards in her first year.
This year, Hallmark Cards, the number one greeting card manufacturer, predicted it will sell more than 900 million valentines. Valentine's day cards are exceeded in sales only by Christmas cards, said Francis Main, spokesperson for Hallmark consumer affairs in Kansas City. Mo.
NOT ONLY ARE GREETING card companies benefiting from the holiday, but candy manufacturers also make big money, according to the National Confectioners Association in Chicago.
James Boyle, spokesperson for the organization, said that candy manufacturers attribute seven percent of their sales to Valentine's Day — about $391 million. But, Boyle said that more candy is purchased on Christmas. Halloween and Easter.
But surely anyone would agree that big business is secondary to the real meaning of Valentine's Day - romance. And romance is the theme of many American Top 40 songs, according to Matt Wilson, statistician for Billboard Magazine.
Wilson said that 21 song titles in the Top 40 from about 1955 to the present began with the words "love is."
FOR INSTANCE, "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces, "Love is Here and Now You're Gone" by the Supremes, and "Love Is In The Air" by John Paul
by the Supremes, and "Love is in The Air" by John Paul Young are some of the most popular Top 40 love songs.
Young are some of the most popular Top 40 love songs.
Statistics also show the top-selling album of all time is by Elvis Presley, "It's Now Or Never," and that the names John and Mary are the most common in Top 40 songs.
Wilson also said that 46 of the artists that have made the Top 40 were married and made Top 40 hits either together or separately. Of the famous couples that have made the Top 40 over the years, are Sonny and Cher, the Captain and Tenille, Paul and Linda McCartney, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and James Taylor and Carly Simon.
ALTHOUGH VALENTINE'S DAY is in February, June has proven to be the most popular month to marry with 12 percent of all married couples that year taking their vows. Saturday is the most popular day to marry at 53 percent.
Andrew Hacker, author of "U/S: A Statistical Portrait of the American People," also offered some interesting statistics on love American style.
Statistics also show that religious tradition is still important. Eighty percent of women marrying for the first time choose a religious ceremony. But, just 60 percent of women remarrying choose to do so in a church.
The best states to stay married in are Massachusetts, with a divorce rate of 2.9 marriages per 1,000 marriages, New York with a rate of 3.1, and New Jersey with a rate of 3.5.
Valentine's Day also provides some with a unique opportunity to celebrate. One novelity of last year's Valentine's Day was a party thrown in New York City by Richard and Nancy Valentine, for 120 guests with the surname Valentine, The New York Time reported.
The guest list included people from only a few blocks away to one guest from Delvay Beach, Fla. One guest, Christine Valentine, spent the party searching for the person whose Junior League bills had been mistakenly sent to her for years.
A Philadelphia Valentine said, "It was quite interesting, but I rather doubt we'll be exchanging Christmas presents."
ON CAMPUS
TODAY
MARANTHA CAMPUS Ministries will meet at a p.m. in the Alderson Room of the
BROWN BAG CONCERT will feature the KSAxphone Quart at noon in the Strong Hill
THE WORKS OF Truman Lowe, American indian artist. Will be on display through Feb. 24.
"IS IT LOVE, Infatuation or Heartburn?" will be presented at 7 p.m. by the Baptist School.
KULINGUISTICS COLLOQUY will present Ken Ruder, from the KU Bureau of Child Research, and Elizabeth Nelson, from the Rainbows Inc. Preschool in Wichita, to speak on the development of humor appreciation in children will begin at 7:30 p.m. in 2017 Ruke Hall.
THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAR "Spiritual Formation: Three Movements of Spiritual Life" will discuss "A Receptive Christian Ministry 4 and 5" the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building.
"CHAMPIONS!" will meet at 7 p.m. in the Trail Room of the Union.
TAU SIGMA Dance Club will meet at 7 p.m.
in 242 Robinson Center.
CAMPUS CRUSADA FOR CHRIST will meet at 7 p.m. in the Big Eight Room of the
SING WITH KU Colquium Musicum at 4:30 in 328 Murphy Hall.
TOMORROW
KU ADVERTISING CLUB will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the Jayhawk Room of the Union, Jeff Hall, marketing director for the Kansas City Star, will speak.
KU SAILING CLUB will meet at 7 p.m. in the Parlors of the Union.
MARANTHA CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES
at 7 p.m. in the Big Eight Room of
the Union
KU ACCOUNTING CLUB will present a student panel to discuss "Interviewing For Positions in Accounting" at 7 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Frank R. Burge Union.
Personalities affect valentine choice
By United Press International
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - You may think the card you send on Valentine's Day only expresses your feelings for the recipient. But, it also says a lot about the sender, says a motivational psychologist.
"When we send Valentine's Day cards, we are not only sending tokens of our affection, we also are sending messages about ourselves," said Dr. R. Chris Martin, a University of Missouri-ramona professor and a consultant to the world's largest greeting card publisher, Hallmark Cards Inc.
"MOST OF US choose a valentine that we will think appeal to the recipient," Martin said. After all, in most cases, we are expressing our desire and we want them to be favored接受ly."
Martin has studied the relationship between valentines and the personalities of the people who choose them and he's convinced that "our own personality traits, our own likes and
hislikes, invariably enter into the selection."
Martin said the choice of a Peanuts valentine indicates you are usually upbeat and possess a strong sense of humor. It would not be surprising if your Valentine was your subtle humor deliver messages, he said.
Pointing to a card showing a dancing Snoopy with five hearts above his head, the professor said its purchaser would likely be a person with a very stable personality — represented by one with a trace of whisky, represented by the elation in the drawing.
A CARD that quotes an author could mean you are either a little bit unsure of yourself, or you just want to make sure you don't pass up any traditional courtship steps.
People who like cards with hearts and flowers and all the trimmings are dreamers, Martin said. They are traditional romanticists, who believe in love and want it to last forever. He said that these people view the world through rose-colored glasses.
Someone who chooses a valentine with an
art-deco heart and rose in front of a black vase of tall red flowers is definitely non-traditional, but organized, efficient, ultra-modern, knowledgeable and probably upwardly mobile, he said.
A HALLMARK MARKETING spokesman, Nancy Matheny, is quick to point out that Martin's evaluations do not directly influence the artists who design the cards.
Martin agreed, but says those who choose a card with one heart larger than the other are privately saying they don't care if one dominates their relationship.
The company's new puzzle cards are intended for a younger market, for people who want the challenge.
Another design lets the sender fill in the blanks, indicating the sender wants romance to be a woman.
"While the traditional 'forever after' sentiment will always be popular on Valentine's Day, people are looking for more choice these days," Martin said.
The plot's the same but romance still sells
By KRISTA GREEN
Staff Reporter
"His arms shot out to grab her, holding her still as he moved his mouth down to hers. His kiss was savage and angry, his lips cruel as she wasasted hair, but who did not gaze."
ALTHOUGH THE BASIC plot in romance novels has remained the same over the years, America's passion for love and romance has proven to be a hot market. The retail romance book market grew 60 percent over the last two years, according to Millennial, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
This sensuous passage is typical of most romance novels. It follows the set formula: Boy meets girl and they fall in love at first sight. But, a conflict arises and the boy almost loses the girl. The hero then wins her back and they live happily ever after.
From "Untamed Witch" by Patricia Lake
Eight publishers produce 30 lines of novels and 140 new books a month. This is a dramatic increase from 1979 when just 20 new books were produced a month. Business Week reported.
Harlequin Books, the number-one seller of romantic fiction, estimates that one Harlequin book sells every six seconds — averaging two books to every woman in the United States, said Laurie MacGregor, an assistant in Harlequin's public relations department.
MacGregor said that the romance novel market was still growing.
"They're light entertainment, escape, fantasy—a few hour's diversion," said Leary. "There is always a tall, willow, successful woman, who will meet the man of her dreams."
KATHERINE LEARY, a publicity representative for Silhouette Books, agreed. Since the company's beginning in 1980, it has grown to become the number-two seller of romance novels, capturing about 30 percent of the market.
Harlequin targets 98 percent of its books to females between the ages of 18 and 49 years old. The average reader has a high school degree with some college education, MacGregor said.
Romance novels are popular because people love to read about love, Leary said.
So who reads romance novels?
"IT IS AMAZING the number we sell," said Judy Hatch, the manager of Hatch Book Store, 2018 W. 3rd St. "Between semesters, students learn to use the space time it seems like it's the housewives buying."
Publishers offer various lines to appeal to different desires, for example, one of Harlequin's five lines is the basic "Harlequin romance" series, which features sweet kissening romances.
Romance novels have changed with the times though.
Leary said that some men did read romance novels, but they were probably low-key, closet readers. She said that some authors were also familiar with the male point of view and used a female pseudonym.
Harlequin's other lines include the "Harlequin Presents" series, which is similar to the basic Harlequin except the novel is set in a distant place; the "SuperRomance" series, which has
The company will be releasing its longest, most developed and most sensual line next month.
twice the number of pages as a basic Harlequin novel and is more sensuous, and the "Harlequin American Romance" series, which is set in contemporary America.
SILHOUETTE HAS similar lines except for its new "Inspiration" line, which is about Christian romance, and its teen-age line entitled "First Love."
The trend in romantic fiction seems to be towards the more traditional romance instead of the more sensuous, Leary said, because values are becoming more traditional.
"No one has come out and said so, but as the country becomes more conservative, I think the base is shifting."
One reason for the recent popularity in romance novels is because the heroines are more realistic, Leary said. Many of the heroines are divorced.
"They are self-confident, employed, aware and assured women. Finding a man is not their main goal — it is to find the perfect combination between their career and their love." she said.
Romance publishers are also appealing to a more mature market. Older divorced or widowed women can find love again in Jove's "Second Chance At Love." New American Libraries' "September Romance" line — featuring hawkers and burgers over 40 years old
featureting heroes and heroines over 40 years old — Dell's "Ecstasy" line — featuring more sex than its basic formula romances — and Avon's "Finding Mr. Right" series — following women as they mature and discover that no man is perfect.
BLOOM COUNTY
BY BERKE BREATHED