After Christmas, Valentine’s Day, which happens annually on February 14, is the most celebrated day of the year in the U.S. Here is some interesting trivia about the international day of love.
Roses and Flowers
- 110 million roses, mostly red ones, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.
- Valentine’s Day is the big time of year for red roses. Mother’s Day sees more pastel-colored roses sold.
- The State of California produces 60% of American roses, but most roses sold on Valentine’s Day in the U.S. are imported from South America.
- 15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
- 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men; only 27% are women.
Roses are the most popular flower on Valentine's Day
Cards
- About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year.
- Valentine’s Day is the second-largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, after Christmas.
- One third of all Valentine’s Day cards are accompanied by gifts.
- Romantic cards are the bestsellers.
- About 25% of Valentine’s Day cards are funny.
- More than 50% of cards are sold during the actual week of the holiday, and the largest and most elaborate Valentine’s Day cards are sold 48 hours before February 14.
- Of those celebrating Valentine’s Day, 70% of those give a card, 49% make a phone call, 48% give a gift, 37% make a special dinner, 33% give candy, 30% go out to eat and 19% give flowers.
- The people who will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards are (in order): teachers, kids, moms, wives and sweethearts.
- Kids aged 6-10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s Day cards with their teachers, classmates and family members.
- Hallmark, the famous card company, makes over 1,330 different cards for Valentine’s Day.
Send your crush a Valentine
Chocolate and Candy
- Candy hearts (the ones with the sweet messages printed on them) were first made in 1866 by candy maker NECCO; in those days, they were called Motto Hearts. According to NECCO, 8 billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14.
- More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day.
Candy is a sweet gift
General
- In the U.S., 64% of men don’t make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their sweethearts.
- The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.
- Valentine’s Day is big business. Consumers will spend an average of $77.43 on Valentine’s Day gifts this year. Internet retailers expect to rack up about $650 million in sales of food, candy, flowers and other Valentine’s Day gifts. Of that amount about $350 million will be for gifts and flowers and another $45 million will be spent on food (including chocolate).
- About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
Romeo and Juliet are the ultimate love story
Have Your Say
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