We did something similar last year, unveiling nine facts about Valentine’s Day. This year we have searched the romantic realm for more facts and revelations about the day for star crossed lovers.
Valentine’s Day, alternatively known as Saint Valentine’s Day or Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. So, what is interesting about Valentine’s Day?
1. Think Valentine’s Day, think chocolate. The connection perhaps dates back to the early practices of the medical profession. Doctors in the 1800s used to prescribe patients a dose of chocolate to cure the pangs of lost love.
2. With heart-shaped box containing chocolates, this was the invention of Richard Cadbury (son of John, the creator of the chocolate brand.) In 1822 Richard packaged Cadbury chocolates in the world’s first heart-shaped box.
3. Valentine’s Day is about whispering sweet nothings to your loved one. Where lovers are apart they might well use the telephone to communicate. On Valentine’s Day, Alexander Graham Bell, who may or may not have been the first person to invent the telephone, applied for a patent for his telephonic design on Valentine’s day in 1876.
4. Valentine’s Day doesn’t come cheap for consumers. According to the U.S. National Retail Federation, the average person celebrating Valentine’s Day spent nearly $134 in 2014. In the U.S., the most popular gift is not flowers, but candy. Around 61 percent of consumers in the U.S. will celebrate Valentine’s Day.
5. The day was not invented by greeting card companies. Hallmark, for example, did not produce a Valentine’s Day card until 1913. This is was centuries after the first declaration of the official holiday by the Catholic Church in 1537.
6. In many cultures, men buy either flowers or sweets for their female partner. However, this is reversed in In Japan and Korea, where men often receive an endowment of chocolates from the ladies.
7. In the U.S., according to retail statistics, about 3 per cent of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
8. Just over 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it only second to Christmas for sales of greetings cards.
9. If you are single, then there is a different event to celebrate the day after on February 15. You can celebrate Singles Awareness Day (SAD) instead. It also stands that 14 percent of women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
10. And just to end on, penicillin – the most common treatment for syphilis – was discovered on Valentine’s Day 1928.
Enough facts and trivia? If not, here is a video outlining some more interesting bits.
