Monday is Valentine’s Day.
Fellas, you still have the weekend…
This famous – or infamous – “Hallmark holiday” has a lot going for it. Some people believe we shouldn’t need a special day to go out of our way to express our love for our spouse, partner or whomever is the better half in our lives. But a little research shows us a lot of people do go the extra mile to make sure their loved one knows just how special she or he is.
The roots of this holiday are deep. I found out through a little research the first known celebration of St. Valentine’s Day took place in Paris on February 14, 1400, or more than 600 years ago. The oldest record of a Valentine is a poem Charles, the Duke of Orleans, wrote to his wife in 1415 in which he refers to his wife as his “Valentine.”
Of course, he was in jail at the time, so he never got to see her reaction to his words of love.
Hmmm. True story, or so I’m told.
Speaking of valentines, about 145 million cards are exchanged on this holiday annually in the United States alone, making it the second largest greeting card day after Christmas, according to Hallmark.
In 1537, England’s King Henry VIII officially declared February 14 the holiday of St. Valentine by royal charter. And yes, he was the monarch who had six wives: one who died, one who survived, two he divorced, and two he beheaded.
Go figure.
And who are the top recipients of valentines? Teachers, of course … and it’s a landslide.
However, a fictional character also is the recipient of thousands of letters on this particular holiday. Every year on Valentine’s Day, the city of Verona in Italy receives thousands of letters addressed to Juliet from Shakespeare fame. And volunteers actually respond to each letter and award the “Cara Giulietta” (“Dear Juliet”) prize to the author of the most romantic letter.
Molto bene. But, O Romeo, Romeo … wherefore art thou Romeo?
But besides being a romantic holiday, Valentine’s Day also can be an expensive one.
According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $21.8 billion for Valentine’s Day in 2021 and are expected to spend $23.9 billion in 2022.
Men spend about $291 on their “sweetheart” on this day on average while women buy about $106 worth of gifts for their special someone.
That one is easy. Our women deserve it more than we do.
Much of that money – at least on the men’s side for women – goes toward jewelry. According to Good Housekeeping, more cash ($5.8 billion) is spent on baubles than anything else on February 14. Of course, that includes a whole lot of diamond rings as about 6 million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day every year.
But – ready for this? – another statistic from the National Retail Federation claims that gifts for pets made up a whopping $1.7 billion of the money spent on Valentine’s Day in 2021. That’s more than the $1.1 billion we spent on our coworkers. And about 27 percent of people who celebrate Valentine’s Day celebrate it with their pets and get them something special. That’s more than one in four.
The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving a box of chocolates was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury, whose family was, indeed, in the chocolate business in Britain. Legend has it the family used a new technique to create more varieties of chocolate, and they decided to box them together and say it was the perfect gift for this holiday. How sweet.
Speaking of candy, we also have the always-popular conversation heart.
The iconic chalky but sweetheart-shaped candies actually started out as lozenges. According to Food Business News, pharmacist and inventor Oliver Chase created a machine that quickly would create the lozenges before switching to use the machine to create candy, later known as Necco Wafers.
Chase’s brother came up with the idea to print messages on the candy in 1816 and the candies got their heart shape in 1901 – making it the sweetheart of candies for this holiday.
I discovered that about 100,000 pounds of conversation hearts are made every single day. That’s about 8 billion per year with almost all of them sold during a six-week period between January 1 and Valentine’s Day.
Finally, here are a couple other Valentine’s Day-related fun facts…
The term “wearing your heart on your sleeve” may have origins in picking a valentine.
Smithsonian reports that during the Middle Ages, men would draw the names of women who they would be coupled with for the upcoming year while attending a Roman festival. After choosing, the men wore the names on their sleeves to show their bond during the festivities.
And, no, Nancy’s name is not on my sleeve or on my arm as a tattoo.
Have you ever written an “X” for a kiss?
According to the Washington Post, the use of “X” came to represent Christianity, or the cross, in the Middle Ages. During the same time, the symbol was used to sign off on documents.
After marking with an “X,” the writer often would kiss the mark as a sign of his or her oath.
As the gesture grew among kings and commoners to certify books, letters and paperwork, these records were described as having been sealed with a kiss.
Mwah. So there you have it.
Of course, there also are those who treat Valentine’s Day as just another day. Whether married or not or have a better half or no, almost 50 percent of adults do not “celebrate” this holiday, according to the National Retail Federation.
Of course, if that’s true, then just think how all those other numbers and facts come into play if only half of us are producing them.
How sweet is that?
But take heart (pun intended), there are still 316 shopping days until Christmas.
As always, thanks for reading.
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