HOW LONG HAVE PEOPLE BEEN HANDING OUT VALENTINES OUT FOR?

My great-grandmother did it in 1900, but she made them with cloth, paper, and lace. 

Pope Gelasius made February 14 St Valentine's Day in the 5th century. The date was selected because it was the Roman feast of Lupercalia, held on the ides of February. Back then, it was not necessarily associated with romantic love. The first record of that was in 1375 by Geoffrey Chaucer in his poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, ““For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.” 

Traditionally, St Valentine's Day was a time to let someone know you were interested. Cards and trinkets were often sent anonymously. From the latter part of the 20th century onwards, it has expanded to the nonsense we see today and this century even the word "Saint" has been dropped so that many people do not even know that "Valentine" is a man's name and think that the word somehow refers to cards or gifts.