0:05

Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to

0:07

Stuff. I've never told you a production of I Heeart Media's

0:09

How Stuff Works. As

0:19

this episode comes out, it is Valentine's

0:22

Day surrounded by singles,

0:24

Awareness Day, Galantine's Day, whatever

0:26

you celebrated, don't celebrate on February Mistress

0:30

Day, apparently Mistress Day. That

0:32

seems sexist, Yeah,

0:34

it does. We might get

0:36

into that later. Um,

0:39

if you're listening to this to day it comes out, Samantha

0:42

and I are in l A and we might be

0:44

doing our own sort of Galantine's Day thing.

0:46

It's gonna be a full thing. It's gonna be a full

0:49

the Galantine's and Valentine single,

0:52

all of that thing. We're going to do all of them, Okay,

0:54

perfect, all the boxes,

0:56

all of the boxes, and

0:59

hopefully we might have at coffee times with other

1:01

gals or those who identify

1:04

ask come and celebrate or just what's

1:06

a hang with Yeah. Totally trigger

1:09

warning. Brief mentions of violence

1:11

against women in this one. And this

1:13

one actually came to my mind because

1:16

I learned about dating Sunday

1:18

for the first time here in the United States at least,

1:22

which is apparently a New Year's

1:24

resolution post holiday

1:26

breakup thing and maybe

1:28

like you're still single, questions that

1:30

you got over the holidays, or OMG, Valentine's

1:33

Day is coming around the corner. One of those,

1:35

or a combination of those reasons that results

1:37

in a bunch of people signing up for dating

1:39

apps. The first Sunday of the new

1:41

year is the busiest day

1:44

of the year for dating apps. Did you

1:46

know about this? Yes? I did, and I purposely stayed

1:48

away from January all

1:50

the way through March when I was on the

1:52

dating sites because of that. I will

1:54

not be a statistic. You

1:57

are so much more than a statistic to me, is

1:59

the Mantha. I do know that there's also a tradition for

2:01

New Year's You know how people do things that if you wear

2:04

pink underwear, that's supposed to ushure

2:06

you a new lovers or something. I have not

2:08

heard that. I've heard that. Okay,

2:11

well, but I did it. Sure you didn't

2:13

or didn't, It doesn't matter either

2:15

way. Some apps see

2:18

an increase of new users up.

2:21

And one of the ways I learned about this is

2:23

I got asked out a lot in

2:25

January and it it

2:28

made me stop and think something is

2:30

happening here. Something is

2:32

not right. And now I

2:34

know I was part of

2:36

the statistics in some

2:38

ways, but you were on the apps right. No,

2:41

No, I was just getting asked out. As I've said

2:43

before, I do have a very long history of dating

2:45

people born on or near Valentine's

2:47

date. That has also given me pause. And

2:50

a lot of my friends are born around this

2:52

time, right. I don't believe in astrology, but

2:54

I'm like, huh, interesting, those are the types

2:56

of people. Huh. Yes, some Mantha

2:59

and I we were discussing what

3:01

our schools used to do for Valentine's

3:03

Day, Like you know, primary school and

3:05

I was in elementary school. We would make these

3:07

little decorated shoe boxes with slots

3:10

for Valentine's cards, and you just

3:12

would sort of sit around awkwardly

3:15

and hope that you got one after

3:18

you'd given years out. And I hope

3:20

that the one you got wasn't mean, because I got some mean

3:22

ones. Really, yes I did. It's

3:24

so weird you didn't have this experience,

3:28

jeez, Well I did. And we went to

3:30

school nearest each other, nearest

3:33

different time frames. That's true, But you

3:35

think it would improve over time

3:37

and not get Apparently y'all

3:39

got meaner. I don't know they

3:41

were mean. I have a picture of your face with a

3:43

bunch of pimples on it. Oh my gosh. What

3:46

Yes, that's elaborate,

3:49

a main girl, elaborate, Stephen.

3:51

I haven't forgotten Steven's but I got

3:54

back Later in

3:56

high school, we had this thing where you could pay a dollar

3:59

to send I there, white pink, a red

4:01

rose. Anonymously, um,

4:03

white represented friendship, pink represented

4:06

a crush, I think and read represented

4:08

love. But of course my friends and I all

4:11

hijacked it and we sent each other flowers from

4:13

secreted mires. It

4:15

was great. Um My

4:17

mom would always make me these paper roses every year I

4:19

have when I saved him. I'm a very sentimental

4:22

person, and my dad would get me

4:24

a chocolate from our local chocolate

4:26

maker. So it was like a grab bag of

4:28

some bad things with some good things. Wow.

4:31

I guess you guys did a lot more. Maybe

4:33

my school just did not care as much that

4:35

We definitely did the by a rose whatever

4:38

do with those things. It wasn't different colors

4:40

to represent anything. A b

4:43

we would never mean. I mean, I think

4:45

for our school we did the little dinky shoe

4:47

boxes as well, but everybody

4:50

brought everyone of Valentine

4:52

and you wont if there was a piece of candy on

4:54

it. That's how you knew

4:56

you were light kind of if you got more

4:58

candy or whatever what not. Of course, we

5:00

would also have the ones where they

5:02

would send deliveries individual

5:06

kids and such. And I remember specifically

5:08

that I had to have a boyfriend

5:11

the third grade because for the like I'm never,

5:13

I was like, I know, it's fifth grade, and I was determined

5:16

to have someone deliver something to me. I

5:18

love it. I know I was very manipulative,

5:21

but to be fair, I got him a

5:23

really great thing too, And I'm sure I think included

5:25

one of those pencils with the heart that breaks does

5:29

be mine or whatever. Um. So,

5:31

I mean we gave each other gifts,

5:34

but yeah, no, never any

5:36

mean ones I never saw. Maybe we're

5:38

just nicer, or maybe I just never noticed.

5:41

Yeah you going on, Maybe

5:44

I just didn't know my friends were nicer than your friends.

5:46

I don't know how dare you, but

5:49

I will say I also get a box of chocolates even

5:51

to this day every year from

5:53

my father. Um, and that's one of

5:56

the things that he loves to do, is give my sister and I a

5:58

box of chocolates, and even with meybeing not

6:00

home, he mails it and he

6:02

usually like prioritizes a you

6:05

know, that has to be one day shipping all

6:08

these things, something from Walmart

6:10

or Target or something. Okay, yeah,

6:12

well it should be coming any day now. I'm around,

6:15

I'm available. I'm just saying, okay,

6:17

la, right, well, we're doing a kind

6:19

of basic, very brief history of Valentine's

6:22

is actually fascinating. But before

6:24

that, um overview.

6:26

Valentine's Day is a holiday that takes place on February

6:28

fourteen, all about love and expressing

6:31

your love, usually through things like cards,

6:33

flowers, and candy. Yes, it is

6:35

a big business.

6:38

People spent around eighteen point six

6:40

billion dollars on Valentine's

6:43

Day, and these days Valentine's Day

6:45

is a great way for companies incorporations to

6:47

perpetuate heterodating and ginger stereotypes.

6:50

Women love chocolate, right, No, right,

6:53

But it wasn't always a holiday about

6:56

love. So with a

6:58

brief history of Valentine's Day, no

7:00

one's entirely sure where Valentine's Day

7:02

came from, but one popular theory goes

7:04

all the way back to the ancient Roman celebration

7:07

of of Lubricalia from February.

7:11

This festival call for men who

7:13

surprised were usually drunk and naked,

7:16

to sacrifice a goat and a dog. How dare

7:18

you? Then they would skin these animals

7:20

and whip women with the skin. Delightful,

7:22

What a great celebration. The women believe

7:25

this ritual helped with fertility. There

7:27

was a matchmaking aspect as well. Men

7:29

would draw the names of women out of jars and

7:31

the couple would go off and have lots of sex

7:34

for the rest of the festival, and if they hit it

7:36

off, they might even stay together. It

7:38

sounds sort of like I just finished

7:40

the Newest Thing of Sabrina,

7:43

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I feel like a couple

7:45

of seasons back they had, they had this,

7:47

they did, they had the worship

7:49

being whatever, and they paired with

7:51

each other. We're supposed to have sex all night or

7:54

something or something. It didn't happen

7:56

that way for Sabrina. Yeah,

7:58

other people, who knows, but not Versabrina

8:01

asked for the name Valentine's. During the third

8:03

century CE, Roman emperor Claudius

8:05

had two men named Valentine executed via

8:07

decapitation on February four teeth on

8:10

two separate years, possibly because they were

8:12

Christians, the first man, Father

8:14

Valentinus, ended up arrested and inservitude

8:17

of a well off man named Asterius.

8:19

Father Valentinus kept espousing the power of

8:21

Christianity, and Hysterius told him, look, if

8:23

you can get rid of my foster daughter's blindness,

8:25

you will make a believer out of me. So

8:28

the father covered the girl's eyes with his hands

8:30

and recited, Lord Jesus Christ enlightened

8:33

your handmaid, because you are God, the true

8:35

Light, and the legend goes. She regained

8:37

her sight and Mysterius converted,

8:40

along with his entire family.

8:43

But getting wind of this, the emperor

8:45

ordered them all to be executed.

8:47

The second Valentine to be executed had an extremely

8:50

similar story, and of so scholars suspect

8:52

they're probably the same person, just with two

8:54

different names and slightly different

8:57

details. Nevertheless, the Catholic

8:59

Church lay honored their martyrdom

9:01

with St. Valentine's Day. Several

9:04

churches throughout Europe claimed to have pieces

9:06

of St. Valentine's skull. One police

9:08

even claims to have the whole thing. If

9:10

you're curious about where this

9:12

information comes from. Because

9:14

I was there was a

9:17

I guess he was a priest. He went around

9:20

collecting stories for

9:22

all of these saints

9:24

and compiled them into to one

9:27

book. So if you're ever curious about

9:29

a saint, then check it out.

9:32

In the eleventh century, a priest claiming to

9:34

have St. Valentine's head used it

9:36

to cure a whole laundry list of things,

9:38

including demonic possession and to

9:40

prevent fires and epidemics. We need

9:43

that today, we do. I wonder where

9:45

it is. That's the

9:47

new Indiana, Joe, it is getting I

9:50

come on there. It is a lot of media

9:52

has romanticized the story of Valentine,

9:54

that he wrote love letters in jail or performed

9:56

marriages in jail, but there's no real historical

9:59

evidence to back that up. What we have is

10:01

on shaking enough ground. Speaking of

10:03

the Catholic charge and an attempt to do away with

10:06

pagan festivals. They combined Valentine's

10:08

Day with Libercalia in fifth century CE,

10:10

but it was still pretty much a day about

10:13

getting drunk and fertility, but now

10:15

with clothes on, because you know, Christians,

10:18

that's the way you gotta do it. In parallel, there

10:20

was Gallanton's Day, a holiday observed

10:22

by the Norman's Gallanton mid

10:25

lover of women. Because the names are similar,

10:27

it's likely they got combined at some point

10:29

in time Right and

10:31

then with the help of artists like Shakespeare. Ophilia

10:34

describes herself as handless Valentine, and

10:36

Saucer, who wrote a February as the seasoned

10:38

birds, made tau romantic. Valentine's

10:42

Day was romanticized and popularized

10:44

throughout Europe by the Middle Ages.

10:46

Handmade paper cards have become a part of

10:49

this tradition. The French Duke of Orleans

10:51

described his wife as his quote very

10:53

gentle Valentine in a letter he wrote

10:56

to her in February fourteen fifteen. Sweets

10:58

became a part of it, to getting something sweet

11:00

for someone you thought was sweet. Oh so

11:03

I need to get you something sweet. Oh you think of sweets?

11:05

Oh you know I do. So. From Europe,

11:07

this holiday spread, eventually making its way

11:09

to the New World. Nineteenth century

11:12

industrialization added mass produced,

11:14

factory made cards to the mix, and in

11:16

nineteen thirteen a little company

11:18

you may have heard of, I don't know, called Hallmark.

11:21

Hallmark Cards started making cards

11:23

in Kansas City, Missouri. Right

11:26

and and from there you can imagine, oh,

11:28

the birth of cards. So yeah,

11:31

well they were very instrumental in

11:33

popularizing a lot of the holidays we celebrate

11:35

because that's their bread and butter. You

11:38

gotta get a card for this holiday and exactly,

11:42

but not all cards were

11:45

nice. And we're

11:47

going to get into that. But first we're going to foster

11:49

a quick break for word from our sponsor. And

12:05

we're back, Thank you, sponsor, And we're

12:07

back with something I actually learned about. I remember

12:09

the precise moment I learned about this. I

12:12

over on our other show that my other show that I do

12:14

is Samantha. You should just come along and be part of it. Um

12:18

We Savor, which is all about food

12:20

and drink. We did an episode for Valentine's Day on

12:23

sweethearts, the candy with the

12:25

messages, and I

12:27

somehow found this

12:29

thing about giving people mean sweethearts.

12:33

And from there I found this

12:35

old tradition of giving

12:37

people vinegar Valentine. And

12:39

you told me about those, and I was I had no

12:42

clue that was a thing. I'm still kind

12:44

of baffled, even though we've been

12:46

researching it. I'm still baffled. Oh, it's

12:48

baffling actually it makes perfect sense

12:50

in a weird way, and I'm going to bring it

12:52

all together to be fair, though I feel like I

12:54

would be. This is probably my type

12:57

of Valentine anyway, Lord, it

12:59

probably is. So this is

13:01

something that I'm is

13:03

hilarious, but I'm also really glad it's a thing

13:05

of the past because they're

13:08

pretty mean, and we're gonna do some examples. But

13:11

so, vinegar Valentines were previously called

13:13

mocking, insulting. Our comic vinegar is actually

13:15

something that we call them modern lee. That's not what they were

13:17

called back then. And this was the practice

13:20

from about the eighteen forties to nineteen forties

13:22

that was particularly popular in the United States and the

13:24

UK of giving people a mean

13:27

or cruel card, usually

13:29

with a crude caricature, almost

13:31

always anonymously. Even

13:34

when folks made their own Valentine's

13:36

before there was a commercialization

13:38

of cards, they made these vinegar

13:41

versions. They made homemade vinegar versions.

13:43

I guess that's what I was getting elementary school,

13:46

um. But the commercialization of cards

13:49

took that and ran with it. They they made them.

13:52

People would buy these cards for about a penny or

13:54

sometimes more for a fancy one, and they could get pretty

13:56

fancy and send them through the mail,

13:59

again anonymously, to add insult

14:01

to injury. The person receiving

14:03

the vinegar valentine usually had to pay

14:06

for postage. They

14:08

had to pay for it. It could be

14:10

someone you secretly despise, or it could

14:12

be a not so nice way to tell a suitor

14:15

you're not that into them. That was a really popular

14:17

one. We should do these, I don't think

14:19

so. I don't think so.

14:22

You could send one to a couple you didn't

14:24

like, or if they were doing pd A you didn't

14:26

like, you could send that. Um. You could

14:28

strongly advise them to change their behavior. There

14:30

A lot of them are threatening in nature, like change

14:32

your ways or else. Millions

14:36

of these millions

14:38

were printed. If you think about

14:40

it as I have, they

14:43

were sort of an early example of trolling,

14:46

and it really is. It's like we complain

14:48

about social media today and how terrible people

14:50

are, but we've been terrible apparently

14:53

as long as we can be anonymous. Um.

14:57

Yeah, Because if you didn't want to say something to someone's

15:00

face, here here was a great way to

15:02

do it. And you could get

15:04

them for just about anything

15:06

or anyone. They get so

15:08

specific at one time, these

15:11

cards accounted for half of

15:13

all Valentine's sales, not just

15:15

cards sales in the United

15:18

States. Wow. Yeah, the power

15:20

of anonymity, I guess. Yes. So we

15:22

do want to have we want to do some examples.

15:24

Yeah, these are fine. So there's one that this

15:27

image that shows a woman handing a man a

15:29

lemon, and the caption reads, to my

15:32

Valentine tis a lemon. I hand you

15:34

now skado because I love another there's

15:36

no chance for you. Also,

15:40

I would like to say, all of these have great words

15:42

that we'd never use anymore, such as skadoo,

15:45

and I think I would need to bring them back. You need

15:47

the chance Atlantic accent. Oh yeah, I

15:50

know, I don't do that. Well, I mean, we'll

15:52

see how it goes. There's one of

15:54

a woman dumping a bucket of water on a

15:56

man's head that reads, here's

15:59

a pretty cool reception. At least you'll say, there's

16:01

no deception. It's just as plain as it can say,

16:04

old fellow, you best step away. That

16:06

may be something you should do. Another

16:10

one shows a snake in a suit on a

16:12

top hat, and then there's a woman looking on in

16:15

the fear in the background and the captain

16:17

goes, I'm not attracted by your glitter.

16:19

For well, I know how very bitter my life

16:22

would be if I should take you for my spouse.

16:24

A rattlesnake. Oh no, I'd not accept

16:26

the ring, or evermore to would prove a sting.

16:29

Also, I think that snake had a monocle.

16:32

Just want to add that in. It probably sounds

16:34

about right. Yes. Another depicts

16:36

a man about to kiss a donkey with the message,

16:38

Hey, lover boy, the place for you is home

16:41

upon the shelf, because the only one who'd kiss

16:43

you is a jackass like yourself. Or

16:46

this titled bald Head, Your

16:49

bright shining pate is seen at all

16:51

shows, and invariably down in the bald

16:53

headed rose, where you make conspicuous

16:56

by your tender care, your true ardent

16:59

love for one lonesome hair. Oh

17:02

so me, no one supermine. So

17:04

several were moral based about

17:06

p d A or alcoholism, or this one

17:09

called television bug. It

17:11

says at faces that are televised

17:13

all day and night, you stare, but if they saw

17:15

your stupid mug, they'd all go off the air. Oh

17:17

my gosh, I love the rhymes. I'm not gonna

17:20

lie. The rhymes are fun. Yeah. Uh,

17:22

And these cars got down to the occupation

17:24

specific. If you had a sales lady you

17:26

didn't like, there's a vinegar valentine

17:29

that had you covered like this one,

17:32

sales lady. As you wait upon the women

17:34

with disgust upon your face, the way

17:36

you snap and barket them, one would think you owned

17:38

the place. If

17:41

you weren't a fan of your physician. There was a character

17:43

named Dr sredef You

17:45

could even send one to the postman

17:47

who delivered the note. They

17:50

were very big during the Civil War. Two. One

17:52

shows a woman with a large

17:54

skull for a head carrying a

17:56

chainsaw. The caption reads to

17:59

the surgeon, O, ho, old sawbones,

18:01

here you come. Yes, when the rebels whack

18:03

us, you are always ready with your traps

18:06

to mangle saw and hack us.

18:08

Oh. There was a whole category of cars meant

18:10

to emasculate men who had babies on their lap

18:13

as being hen pecked, which is also a

18:15

great word, but not good. No, but

18:17

at the same it's an old school word. Is ridiculous.

18:20

And then the old maid from all

18:23

in vain you're simpering looks you never can

18:25

incline with all of your bustles staying curls

18:28

to find a Valentine. And

18:30

this one she's caught a pork at

18:32

and a bird, but she can't snare a man. So

18:35

we've heard it's the old maids sad

18:37

fate to lose out on a mate and take tea,

18:39

but not a word. Or

18:42

this one. You've got more

18:44

curves in a roller coaster. Your close fit

18:46

like a glove. There's one thing wrong, glamoroupus.

18:49

You've a face only a mother would love. So

18:52

many depicted women in unfeminine

18:54

ways, miss nosey and image of

18:56

a woman with a large nose that reads. On

18:58

account of your talk of other's affairs at

19:01

most dances, you sit warming the chairs because

19:03

of the k you take to attend to all others

19:05

business. You have a de friend. And

19:07

speaking of unfeminine women,

19:10

suffrage ushered in a whole new wave

19:12

of vinegar Valentine's aimed at women

19:15

fighting for the right to vote, Like

19:17

this, your vote for me, you will not get.

19:20

I don't want a preaching suffragette.

19:23

These cards typically portrayed suffragetts as

19:25

ugly and often violent. Some

19:27

women sent Valentine's to assure

19:29

would be suitors that they weren't like those

19:32

suffragists reading in

19:34

these wild days of suffragette drays.

19:36

I'm sure you'd never overlook a girl

19:38

who can't be militant but simply loves

19:41

to cook. Okay, but there

19:43

were pro suffragists Valentines

19:45

as well, so you know,

19:48

it's kind of like the feminist and anti feminist

19:50

today, and it's just in Twitter, exactly

19:54

exactly. These cards,

19:56

while popular, we're certainly not universally

19:59

well liked, and it's hard to say how many were

20:01

jokes and how many were totally

20:03

serious. Article

20:06

from the Kindergarten Primary magazine lamented

20:09

the detrimental effects these cards had on children,

20:11

calling on teachers to quote, make it a

20:13

day for kind remembrance than a day

20:15

for wrecking revenge. One post

20:18

office in Chicago held over twenty

20:20

five thousand Valentines, deeming

20:23

some of the cards too vulgart

20:25

to send. But there are historical

20:27

examples of people getting murdered or taking

20:30

their own lives over vinegar Valentine's.

20:32

So it's a bullying tactic, it is.

20:34

It absolutely is. Again, these are funny

20:36

to read right now, but plenty were

20:39

super sexist and racist and fat

20:41

phobic, and some advise people to kill themselves

20:43

really if you think of comment boards

20:45

and Twitter fees, YouTube comments. In

20:47

some ways this is still going on.

20:50

Actually, in a lot of ways going

20:52

on, and people have always been terrible.

20:54

And again, the world is burning, Sminty,

20:57

the world is burning. That's our attack.

21:00

Oh so wow, Vinegar

21:02

Valentine's I never knew was such a thing. I

21:06

would recommend looking it up, um,

21:09

just to see the imagery in a lot

21:11

of them, God found

21:13

disheartening. But maybe we should

21:15

go onto a better better We're

21:18

not not better better topics

21:20

such as Galantine's Day. So

21:22

the actual name and celebration was first

21:25

on Parks and rec episode that aired on

21:27

February eleven two. Also

21:29

should be noted that it was written by a man. Yes.

21:32

So in the episode, we see one of my

21:35

faves, Amy Poehler, celebrating with

21:37

her gal pals with brunch and plenty

21:39

of kitchy presents and gifts, and as

21:41

Leslie explained it, every February,

21:43

my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our

21:46

boyfriends at home and we just come and kick it

21:48

breakfast style ladies celebrating

21:50

ladies. It's like the Little Fair minus the

21:52

inks, plus for tatt us and waffles

21:55

and waffles, of course, the waffles as

21:58

defined by Urban Dictionary. Every

22:00

thirteenth, the other half of Valentine's Day, when

22:02

you celebrate your love for your lady friends

22:04

single r. No, Hey, Judy, you're such

22:06

a great friend to me, and I want to celebrate our friend love,

22:09

not only my sexy love with my boyfriend Marvin

22:11

tomorrow. So let's have a dinner and get together the

22:13

day before Valentine's Day. Galantine's

22:16

Day, sexy love. Friend.

22:20

You know you gotta differentiate. So if

22:22

you have seen the show, and most likely if a friend

22:24

of yours have seen the show, then you know that, yes,

22:27

this is a made of holiday, but the success

22:29

of it has made some great commercial success,

22:31

whether from different products being marketed towards

22:33

the holiday or from the sheer amount of publicity

22:36

written in reference to said holiday.

22:38

Yes, one thing as

22:40

part of our jobs. And you might

22:42

not get this a lot yet, Samantha, but you

22:45

will is cold emails

22:47

from pr companies, and I

22:49

have probably gotten at least thirty about Galentine's

22:51

Day and what I should be doing on Galentine's Day and what I should

22:54

buy my gal pal friends. So

22:56

definitely companies have capitalized on it

22:58

and also um

23:00

I, as I said before, it wasn't an official

23:03

day, but I feel like a lot of us has been. We've

23:05

been doing something like this for

23:07

a long time. We just didn't call it this,

23:09

and we didn't have all of the kind of traditions.

23:11

Even though it's new, there's kind of a set here's

23:14

what you do exactly. Yes. Spreading

23:17

wide enough, it has spawned

23:19

books, articles both arguing for and against.

23:21

As New York Post writer Hailey Eber

23:23

stated in her twenty seventeen column celebrating

23:26

female friendship is great, but tying it to Valentine's

23:28

Day reeks of an opportunistic marketing

23:30

ploy, stating she felt

23:33

it was being used as only a marketing

23:35

ploy in that February had once

23:37

been referred to as Mistress

23:39

Day, again for cheaters to take

23:41

their side pieces, as she states,

23:43

out for private celebration. Perhaps

23:46

it could be stated that Galantine's was

23:48

the answer to the long appropriated idea

23:50

that Valentine's was single awareness day.

23:52

Side note, there seems to be a whole lot

23:54

of feelings, whether it's love, loneliness,

23:57

or defensiveness, just a whole lot of emotion

23:59

around the month and again speaking

24:01

of a single Awareness Day. This was created

24:04

in two thousand five with the idea that for too

24:06

long February was sad,

24:08

which is the acronym for single Awareness Day in

24:11

the negative, and so taking it back

24:13

and celebrating being single and being

24:15

aware of that day, I guess is on the fifties

24:17

to celebrate one's own singleness

24:20

if you happen to be single, right.

24:22

And when I was in college, me in a big group

24:24

of my female friends would do single

24:26

Awareness Stay Sad, but we would kind of do it

24:29

like ironically, like we were single,

24:31

but we weren't sad. We were super happy, but

24:34

we would kind of joke about it. Yes, it's a

24:36

celebration of I don't need no persons.

24:38

Yeah yeah, And we would always like,

24:41

really do it up. It was really fun um.

24:45

And of course it should

24:47

be noted that there are several other days

24:49

created before Gallantine's Day, such

24:51

as International Day of Friendship created

24:53

by the u N and World Friendship Crusade

24:56

in celebrated on lthough

24:59

most country celebrate on the first Sunday

25:01

in August. And by the way,

25:04

Winnie the Pooh, but you didn't I

25:07

didn't know. I was appointed as the

25:09

Ambassador of Friendship by the U N Yes.

25:12

Also a note, National Friendship Day was created

25:14

by Hallmark in nineteen nineteen, but apparently

25:16

went away in the nineteen forties. I guess they didn't sell

25:18

enough card maybe not maybe not UM.

25:22

And yeah, I actually I had a brain freeze.

25:24

I forgot who wanted the poo was. It's all okay,

25:26

I didn't know who you. Now

25:29

I know, UM. And we did

25:31

want to talk about some traditions around the

25:33

world. But first we're gonna pause for

25:35

one more quick pick for a word from our sponsor, and

25:51

we're back. Thank you sponsor. And yeah, we

25:53

did want to talk about some traditions

25:55

from elsewhere. Yeah, I mean, you know, we

25:57

would love to hear about traditions from other

25:59

countries. So please let us know if you're

26:01

in a different country, or even if you have different

26:03

types of traditions, let us know. Because apparently

26:05

in Denmark men give women something

26:07

called a joking letter traditionally.

26:10

I'm a assuming anyone can do it. Yeah,

26:13

the letter has a funny joke or rhymes,

26:15

signed only with a series of dots

26:17

like dot dot dot. I think,

26:20

yeah, I think maybe I was thinking

26:22

morse code. But see, so

26:25

if the receiver can figure out who the author is,

26:28

they get an easter egg when the holiday rolls

26:30

around. What. Yeah,

26:32

I wonder if that's really true.

26:35

So you get an easter egg if

26:37

you but you have to wait, you have

26:39

that long just figure out who it

26:41

is. Probably is morrise code, because

26:44

I wouldn't imagine what an

26:46

asterisk would be, a hint of swords. Yeah,

26:49

and I do feel like I

26:51

could be totally wrong. So I feel like this

26:53

tradition, we're gonna need to know some answer

26:55

we need we have questions that need answer. At

26:59

one time, the French participated in something called

27:01

latre da more drawing for love.

27:04

It sort of sounds like choosing a kickball

27:06

team or something. Men and women would separate

27:09

and then call each other's names out and

27:11

they would couple up. The men, of

27:13

course, could choose another woman if

27:15

they didn't like the one who they ended up with, and the unmatched

27:17

women would go have a bonfire together,

27:20

hurling insults and swears to men

27:22

who would wrong them, burning the pictures

27:24

of those men. This holiday got so out

27:26

of hand the French government stepped

27:29

in and banned it. In

27:31

England, there used to be a tradition of women putting

27:33

bay leaves under their bed the night before

27:35

Valentine's Day, UM one at each corner

27:38

and the center to dream of their

27:40

future husbands. You can check out

27:42

the episode we did on Bai Leaves ever at Savor

27:45

for more on that. And

27:47

we also talked about South Korea's Black Day

27:49

on April fourteenth, which is a day where singles

27:51

eat black foods. Two mourned their

27:53

single status. But being single

27:56

is great. Oh it's all good. Hey,

27:58

I'll eat food. Yeah, I from

28:01

what I understand again, listeners right in. It's

28:04

also sort of ironic, like I don't

28:06

think I don't

28:08

think people are really upset

28:10

about it, but I could be wrong. So we would love to hear

28:12

from anybody who knows

28:15

there are some So we did, and in our Savor

28:17

episode we talked about we were talking about um Cuddlefish,

28:19

inc. And so things just die

28:21

like and it could be anything noodles. I

28:23

think noodles is traditional, but like the

28:26

outside of tumblings or cupcakesing

28:30

Keane have the black hamburg

28:32

or whatever. We also talked about that. Okay,

28:35

yes, so I need to go listen to that episode right

28:37

now. You do, you'll learn a lot

28:41

and We would love to learn a lot from

28:43

your listeners, as we always do, and we do have

28:45

some listener mail for this one. Starting

28:48

with MICHAELA. She

28:50

wrote, Hey, y'all, I loved your two parter on female

28:52

revengers, particularly because I'm currently in a production

28:54

of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, featuring

28:56

one of the most intense here's my bias

28:58

showing female avengers Tamura,

29:01

Queen of the Goths. As an actor. Villains

29:03

are forever juicy to play, but Tamura

29:05

Tamura has been a mind job and a challenge

29:08

unlike anything I faced to date.

29:10

The story if you're not savvy. After

29:12

losing a ten year war against Rome, she her

29:14

three sons, and a mercenary, her secret lover,

29:16

Aaron the Moore, are dragged to Rome as

29:19

trophies. Her firstborn son is chosen

29:21

for sacrifice by way of a right by

29:23

the titular character Titus. She

29:25

begs, she appeals to him as a parent, but he does

29:27

not relent, and her son is needlessly by

29:29

us again slaughtered. By

29:32

this, she is forever altered and irreversibly

29:35

damaged and bent on revenge of epic

29:37

proportions. She is elevated to Empress.

29:40

Yes. In the same scene, her son was murdered

29:42

and she reclaims the status that will assist her

29:44

in gaining vengeance, and boy, howdy

29:47

does she. She aids and abets the mutilation

29:49

and rape of Titus's daughter, as well as

29:51

the murder of the daughter's new husband, frames

29:53

two of his sons he said murder, and attempts to drive

29:56

Titus and sane with grief. The

29:59

thing is, he's already pretty insane. Forty years

30:01

of war will do that to someone. But he's

30:03

the victor of war and so lauded for a service

30:05

to Rome, so his wild behavior is

30:07

mostly allowed, even when he kills one of his own

30:10

sons. But I digress. In

30:12

the end, she loses her mind and believes

30:14

she has tricked Titus into something that will finish

30:16

him and his remaining family. However, he

30:18

hasn't actually bought the farm, and her sons are captured,

30:21

murdered, and baked into a pie, which she eats

30:23

at a banquet. She is then killed by Titus,

30:26

and it is pronounced that her body will be tossed

30:28

to the animals to feast on as it rots,

30:30

because having lived beastly, she

30:32

will be food for beast. Tamura

30:35

is a woman in a man's world, who, when she

30:37

behaves like a man I e aggressively, is

30:39

deemed barbarous, without womanhood

30:41

and without grace. Though when Titus and every

30:43

other man the play behaving kind, no eyebrow

30:46

gets raised, her sexual prowess is often

30:48

discussed as a negative, either as a tool of manipulation

30:51

or further evidence of her barbarism.

30:53

Meanwhile, Titus has begotten twenty six

30:55

sons of one would have to imagine twenty

30:57

six separate women delivered to him upon

31:00

on his returns from war, because you know, dudes

31:02

gotta let off some steam after all that warring.

31:04

Furthermore, Lavinia, Titus's daughter, exists

31:07

to service her father and her husband, and is literally

31:09

referred to as an object our property. Throughout

31:11

the play. There are the only

31:13

two women in the play, and so the Madonna and the horror

31:16

dynamic is omnipresent. I have so

31:18

much more to say, but I've already said more than

31:20

I thought I would, and I hear the actro music spelling.

31:22

Just want to make sure my favorite Shakespearean

31:25

lady Villen got herd I

31:28

saw that. I saw the movie when

31:30

I was a kid, in it. Yeah,

31:33

that could be a little bit of horrifying the pie

31:36

the pies anyway,

31:40

Whitney wrote, I thought of you both while

31:42

watching a movie recently, and how appropriate considering

31:45

you ask listeners for movie recommendations. There's

31:47

a movie out of China called The Widowed Witch about

31:49

a woman who survives a factory explosion which

31:51

kills her husband. While recovering from this

31:53

trauma, she endured in other trauma, she

31:56

ends up becoming a traveling shaman.

31:58

This movie seems to take off both thegories

32:00

of somewhat revenge film as well as

32:02

which film is also a non white

32:04

depiction of women practicing magic. Perfect

32:07

perfect love recommendations.

32:09

Yes, we're definitely going to check that out. So

32:11

we need to know how are you going to celebrate

32:13

February fourteen or not? You

32:16

don't have to, I don't blame you. Do

32:18

you have a unique tradition or how is it celebrated

32:20

in your neck of the woods If you don't do Valentine's

32:22

Day? Is there an equivalent or any

32:25

of those friendship days? Oh? Yes, I

32:27

definitely had Gallantine's tradition

32:29

for a while. Yes, as did I.

32:32

You can send your stories answers

32:34

to our questions. We had many in this episode.

32:37

Yes, please don't have vinegar valentines

32:40

unless they're funny, unless I actually would appreciate

32:42

a good funny one. Yeah, a good funny one. That's okay.

32:45

You can email us at Stuff Media, mom Stuff at

32:47

iHeart media dot com. You can find

32:49

us on Instagram at Stuff I've Never Told You and on

32:51

Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast. Thanks

32:54

as always to your super producer Andrew

32:56

Howard, and also be part of the Gallantine's

33:00

will allow it, and thanks to you

33:02

for listening Stuff I Never Told You. He's a

33:04

production of I Heart Radios. How Stuff Works. For

33:06

more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit i heeart Radio

33:08

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

33:10

favorite shows.