John Derbyshire On Valentine’s Day: The Book of Love
02/14/2019
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I wrote the definitive St Valentine's Day column back in 2004. We re-posted it here in 2016. Every year when the day comes round I mean to re-re-post it, but I generally forget.

Does the New York Post still publish their Book of Love on February 14th? Yes they do: The social networks have not yet killed off all customary observances. The Book of Love has shrunk down to just over a single page, though (page 59 in my print copy). It's in the Post's tiniest font, and there's been a definite fall-off in creativity. If Cozyball still loves Honeybunny, they're not advertising it in the pages of the Post.

I can't find the Book of Love on the web version of the Post; but they do have a St Valentine's Day tag. There's some downbeat stuff there: Restaurants actually hate Valentine's Day, because nobody wants a table for more than two. In the same damp spirit, florists hate the day because "Roses are scarcer and more expensive to purchase wholesale this time of year, since they bloom in spring rather than winter." Oh, right.

And there is of course a woke angle: Happy Valentine's Day! — don't sexually harass your employees.

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