With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I want to introduce some fun, interesting tidbits about the upcoming holiday. There’s a little more to it than chocolate and flowers.
1. The most widely-accepted origin of St. Valentine’s Day is the story of St. Valentine himself. He illegally married couples during Emperor Claudius II’s marriage ban. The Emperor felt that marriage was a distraction to his soldiers. St. Valentine was put to death on—you guessed it—February 14th for his defiance.
2. At the end of the 5th Century, Roman Pope Gelasius declared February 14th “St. Valentine’s Day.”
3. According to History.com, the oldest record of the first valentine being sent, in 1415, was a poem. This gesture might sound nice, but the valentine was sent by a French Medieval Duke named Charles, who was locked in a tower.
4. The tradition of giving flowers dates back to the 17th century. Be careful when purchasing them now. The color of the flowers symbolize different meanings. Red is, of course, for love.
5. It was in the 1840s that Valentine’s Day cards were mass produced. Lucky card makers…
6. Richard Cadbury first introduced heart-shaped boxes of chocolates in 1861. Yes, he is from the family of the same makers of the Cadbury Easter Eggs.
7. History.com reports that over 250 million roses are grown each year in preparation for Valentine’s Day. Most are imported from places like Ecuador and Kenya due to the climate.
8. According to Hallmark, 145 million valentines are exchanged annually. One shocking addition to this statistic is that this number does not even include valentines exchanged in children’s classrooms.
9. In 2020, according to National Retail Foundation, Americans spent 27.4 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day. Wowsa!
10. The National Retail Foundation provides another statistic that isn’t quite as shocking: Jewelry, as many may have guessed, is the number one gift for Valentine’s Day.
Now it’s time for that promised quirky bonus: The official Valentine’s Day alternative is “International Quirkyalone Day.” This holiday has been celebrated globally since 2003, so lonely hearts are celebrated too.