Valentine’s Day: a big deal to you or not?  While not a holiday from work for most, this day generates a great deal of feelings, activity, commerce – and occasionally angst – in a large swath of the population every year.  Did you send or receive a card, flowers, chocolate or other Valentine’s Day gifts this year?  Following are some random fun facts about Valentine’s Day gleaned from the internet.

 

  • Approximately 145 million valentines are sent in the U.S. each year (excluding packaged kids’ valentines for classroom exchanges) according to estimates by the U.S. Greeting Card Association, second only to Christmas.
  • 1,500 types of Valentine’s Day greeting cards were being offered by Hallmark in 2017.
  • Women purchase Approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
  • Over 50 percent of all Valentine’s Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the holiday.
  • Teachers receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives and husbands, sweethearts and pets.
  • About 20 percent of pet owners give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
  • Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, scene of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.
  • 73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men.
  • 15 percent of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
  • 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day.
  • Women purchase more than 85% of all the (non-flower) gifts bought on Valentine’s Day.
  • 46.1 percent of adults did not plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year.
  • In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine.  They would wear this name pinned to their sleeves for one week for everyone to see.  This was the origin of the expression, “to wear your heart on your sleeve.”
  • Valentine’s Day chocolate boxes were introduced by Richard Cadbury in the late 1800s.
  • More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine’s Day.
  • Over $1 billion worth of chocolate is purchased for Valentine’s Day in the U.S.
  • $18.2 billion is the total 2017 Valentine’s Day projected spending.
  • 9 million marriage proposals were expected to be made on Valentine’s Day this year.
  • 1.9 million Facebook users were expected to change their relationship status within a week of Valentine’s Day.

 

Of course, many would say that we should regularly tell our loved ones how much we appreciate and love them, including our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents – not just on Valentine’s Day.  Telling them in person would be best, but as families live greater distances from each other than in the past, that is not always possible.  LifeShare gives an easy way to stay in touch and share our feelings, pictures, videos, etc., eliminating distance as a factor.

We hope you and yours had a great Valentine’s Day this year!