Believe it or not, Valentine's Day is the single largest seasonal
card-sending occasion after Christmas. On average men spend $130 each on candy,
cards, jewelry, flowers and dates. This is double the amount of what women
commit to spending. Interesting...wondering what you’re sweetie is planning for
you? Whether you're celebrating the day, here are a few fun facts to read about
February 14th.
Greeting Cards
- Approximately one billion Valentine's are sent out worldwide each
year according to estimates by the U.S. Greeting Card Association.
- Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by
children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.
- Over 50% of all
Valentine's Day cards are purchased in the 6 days prior to the holiday.
Other Fun Facts
- Every Valentine's Day, the Italian city of Verona, where
Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, received about 1,000 letters
addressed to Juliet.
- The oldest
surviving love poem till date is written in a clay tablet from the times of the
Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C.
- In
the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their
valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.
To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to
know how you are feeling.
- Red hearts are a ubiquitous Valentine symbol. Red is traditionally associated with the color of blood. At one time, people thought that the heart, which pumps blood, was the part of the body that felt love. In fact, when the Egyptians mummified their dead for burial, they removed every organ but the heart because they believed the heart was the only part of the body necessary for the trip through eternity.
- A True Love Knot, or Endless Knot of Love, was a very popular Valentine in England and the U.S. in the seventeenth century. As their name implies, these Valentines were drawn as a knot and could be read from any line and still make sense.
- Red hearts are a ubiquitous Valentine symbol. Red is traditionally associated with the color of blood. At one time, people thought that the heart, which pumps blood, was the part of the body that felt love. In fact, when the Egyptians mummified their dead for burial, they removed every organ but the heart because they believed the heart was the only part of the body necessary for the trip through eternity.
- A True Love Knot, or Endless Knot of Love, was a very popular Valentine in England and the U.S. in the seventeenth century. As their name implies, these Valentines were drawn as a knot and could be read from any line and still make sense.
Happy
Valentine's Day!
