With Valentine's Day coming up, I got to thinking --- how has this holiday changed throughout the years? A good way to figure this out is to examine artwork from the past several decades to see how the holiday has been portrayed. Something I'm very interested in is the artwork on the cover of the popular magazine The New Yorker. Since its first issue in 1925, The New Yorker never fails to grace its cover with eye-catching artwork. Often, these covers offer social commentary, political satire, and references to current trends and events. While not every V-day cover displays an obvious message about the times, they are able to offer some clues as to how this holiday has been perceived and celebrated throughout the decades.

1928

One of the earliest Valentine's Day covers from the 1920s shows a butler delivering a card. While this cover may not be sending a strong message, it's interesting to see the butler's style of clothing, and the fact that butlers were commonplace at that time.

1934

Jumping ahead a decade, we see men dressed to fit the times, catching Cupids with butterfly nets. It's interesting that the men are shown chasing after Cupids instead of after women. Maybe, at that time, it was considered too risqué to display men and women in love.

1942

At first glance, I thought this cover was meant to evoke sympathy for the soldiers fighting in WWII, as they're not home with the people they love. However, when you look closely, you can see that this sailor is actually leafing through his little black book, writing Valentines for all of his girlfriends---one in every port he's stopped at. The New Yorker has always been ahead of its times, so it comes as no surprise to see the cover artwork taking a jab at young men.

1944

Take a close look at this cover. It appears to be set in a sketchy boarding house, with a woman alone in one room and a man sliding a Valentine under her door. However, she's blocked the door with a chair, showing that she feels unsafe and uncomfortable. It exemplifies the idea that men are supposed to be the aggressors when it comes to Valentine's Day. Men are supposed to initiate, sending cards and chocolate to their women, while the women are the traditional receivers.

1954

This cover is pretty timeless, but it should be noted that the young woman in this picture is sitting by her open mailbox, receiving the Valentine, rather than sending one.

1960

I like this cover for a lot of reasons, the main one being that it gives us a great glimpse of stereotypical 60's business suits. The businessmen in this picture are obviously in a chocolate shop trying to pick out gifts for their wives. Again, the men are the ones doing the gift-giving, while women are the receivers.

1967

This cover artwork is very obviously referencing hippy culture, which was big at the time. The peace signs and flowery patterns are eye catching and do a great job of showing off the current trend, as well as drawing attention to Valentine's Day, of course.

1972

The man in this picture appears to be some sort of scientist, perhaps a meteorologist. This was the first Valentine's Day cover that portrayed the sciences and technologies, which (as a STEM major) is super exciting!

1980

This cover from the 80s is the first one to show the woman initiating the gift giving. The queen of hearts appears to be handing a flower to the king of hearts, while he hands one back. This cover might mark a shift in the traditional roles of men and women, at least when it comes to Valentine's Day.

1992

During a time when space travel was big in the US, this cover depicts little Cupids launching an arrow, as if it's a rocket. This cover could easily have been used in the 80s, and perhaps even the 70s, but today it would not be quite as relevant.

1996

Up until this cover, all the others showed couples totally in love, or men picking out presents for their women. However, realistically we know that love is not always so peachy. This cover gives a realistic view of a couple; things aren't always great in relationships, and the fact that it's V-day doesn't magically make peoples' problems disappear.

2001

This comic is bit complicated to follow, but aren't all relationships like that at some point or another?

2003

This cover artwork depicts the war in Iraq in order to remind Americans, who were lucky enough to be home with their loved ones, of the soldiers serving our country and putting their lives at risk.

2011

This satirical cover shows the mayor of New York at the time, Michael Bloomberg. Instead of using Valentine's Day to show his love for others, he treats himself with chocolates and champagne. He's depicted as being infatuated with himself, which is commentary on the fact that he served three terms, instead of the prior limit, which was two.

2014

The most recent V-day themed cover was from 2014. A picture like this would never have been displayed in previous decades, most likely because it would have been deemed inappropriate. But nowadays this is the norm and, for the most part, no one takes offense to it. Both people are shown as equals, just enjoying each other's presence and the quiet snowfall outside.

We can see that over time Valentine's Day has become less about men doing nice things for their wives or girlfriends, and more about couples celebrating each other. Modern relationships are shown as a lot less formal and a lot more complicated than they were a few decades ago. All of the covers that depicted men giving cards and candy to their wives exemplify the old tradition of men asking women on dates, paying every time, and displaying the utmost of chivalry. Nowadays, more and more women are feeling empowered to initiate relationships, which is awesome! It's fascinating that something as seemingly mundane as magazine covers can give us an inside look at the transformation of relationships throughout the past nine decades.