141 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually. This makes Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (Source: Hallmark research)
Over 50 percent of all Valentine’s Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to Valentine’s Day. (Source: Hallmark research) Click here for last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts at NetFlorist.
The most popular story about the origins of Valentine’s Day is that Emperor Claudius II didn’t want Roman men to marry during wartime. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed weddings in secret. Bishop Valentine was jailed and executed for doing this. While in jail, Valentine wrote a note to the daughter of the person who jailed him and signed it “from your Valentine“.
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their valentine. The names would be worn pinned to their sleeves for one week for everyone to see. This was also the origin of the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve.”
Medical professionals of the 1800s commonly advised their patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining for lost love.
73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27 percent are women. (Source)
Wondering why the red rose is the flower of Valentine’s Day? The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.
Lots of love.
xxx
