Posted by Gwen Watson on Jan 1, 2023
Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and that means candy hearts and cuddly teddy bears are everywhere! Single or coupled, there is no escaping Valentine’s Day until February 15th. Here are some crazy Valentine’s Day facts about how we celebrate Valentine’s Day along with some crazy Valentine’s Day facts. What will you be buying this year for your love?
Flowers
Approximately 224 million roses are grown for Valentine’s Day. Red roses were the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, as the bud stands for strong romantic feelings, and red roses make up the vast majority of roses sold each year. 64% percent of men buy flowers, while only 36% percent of women buy flowers for Valentine’s Day. Although, 15% of women admit they will send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day! Meanwhile, 61% of men of all ages say they would like to receive flowers from a woman for Valentine’s Day.
Gifts
Valentine’s Day is apparently worth $18.6 billion (yes, with a B). People will spend $1.6 billion on candy, $1.9 billion on flowers, and $4.4 billion on diamonds, gold, and silver. About 1/5 of all Valentine’s Day shopping was done online and 40.7% of people admit they will use their smartphones to purchase Valentine’s gifts.
The average U.S. consumer is expected to spend $116.21 on Valentine’s Day gifts, meals, and entertainment. And men spend double what women spend on Valentine’s day for their significant others: $158.71 compared to $75.79
Cards
Hallmark makes 1,400 Valentine’s greeting cards! The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, like children or parents. When you include the valentine exchange that happens in many schools the total goes up to 1 billion, and teachers receive the most valentines. An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010.
Over 50 percent of all Valentine’s Day cards are purchased in the six days leading up to Valentine’s Day, which means the other 50% are last-minute purchases!
Candy
Chocolate and candy sales reach profits of $1 billion during the Valentine season, with 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate sold. Interestingly, 70% of chocolate hearts sold at Walgreens are purchased within the last 48 hours leading up to Valentine’s Day and Walgreens has found that sales boom when Valentine’s Day falls on a weekday, with many men stopping in last minute to grab a gift and a card.
Do you put a lot of stock on Valentine’s Day? Or do you and your love celebrate on a different day that you don’t have to share with everyone else?
© Featured Photo byGetty Images
FAQs
Valentine's Day is florists' busiest day of the year.
Most of those flowers are (you guessed it) roses. About 250 million roses are grown for Valentine's Day, and more than half are red.
What is a fun fact about valentines Day? ›
Valentine's Day is florists' busiest day of the year.
Most of those flowers are (you guessed it) roses. About 250 million roses are grown for Valentine's Day, and more than half are red.
What did Valentine do secretly? ›
Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret.
What is the mystery behind Valentine's Day? ›
While the date is meant to honor Saint Valentine's death and burial, which supposedly occurred in mid-February around 270 AD, some historians believe the date could reflect the Catholic Church's attempt to replace the ancient Pagan celebration of Lupercalia — a fertility festival for the pagan agricultural god Faunus — ...
What are 5 facts about St. Valentine? ›
Here are a few surprising facts about Saint Valentine:
- There was more than one Saint Valentine. ...
- There was even a Pope Valentine. ...
- Valentine means “healthy” and “strong.” One of the reasons it is hard to identify the “real” Saint Valentine is that Valentine or Valentinus was a popular Roman name.
Pink and Red are the most commonly worn colours on Valentine's Day. These also happen to be one of the best colour combinations for a statement outfit. Red signifies love and pink means gentleness. However, if you like both colours, you can opt for them both.
What is true about Valentine's Day? ›
It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
What is the creepy origin of Valentine's Day? ›
One story is that a priest by the name of Valentine, or Valentinus, married couples in secret after Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men, thinking it would make them better soldiers.
What is the hidden truth about Valentine's Day? ›
The festival was meant to encourage a woman's fertility and pay homage to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as Romulus and Remus, the Roman founders. It began with the sacrifice of a goat (representing fertility) and a dog (representing purification).
What is the dark meaning of Valentine's Day? ›
One Valentine was a priest in third-century Rome who defied Emperor Claudius II after the ruler outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine would perform marriages in secret for young lovers, ultimately leading to his death.
1 John 4:7-12. Dear friends: let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
What is the real story behind valentines day? ›
Turns out, it was a pretty common name during Late Antiquity. As far as anyone can tell, the Saint Valentine of Valentine's Day was one of two guys preaching the good word in Rome in the third century. One of these two was martyred on February 14th 269, thus giving us the date for his eponymous day.
Why is it called Valentine's day? ›
The day was commemorated for martyred saints named—you guessed it—Valentine. Differing legends celebrate three different saints called Valentine or Valentinus, but since very little was known about these men and there were conflicting reports of the St.
What are 3 interesting facts about Valentine's day? ›
According to Hallmark, women purchase 85 percent of all valentines. Valentine's Day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. The average American will spend $119.67 on Valentine's Day this year, up from $100.89 last year.
What is the fun history of Valentine's day? ›
Though some historians believe that Valentine's Day commemorates the death of St. Valentine on February 14, others believe that the holiday actually has its origins in a Pagan fertility festival called "Lupercalia," which was celebrated on February 15 in ancient Rome.
What is the oldest Valentine in history? ›
The oldest known Valentine still exists today as a poem written by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting that was written in 1415 is part of the manuscript collection at the British Library in London.
What is special about valentines Day? ›
Valentine's Day is most commonly associated with romantic love, with millions of Valentine's Day cards being exchanged each year. Gifts of flowers or a single red rose are sent with romantic messages to loved ones and couples spend special time together.
What is special about February 14th? ›
Valentine's Day began as St. Valentine's Day, a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. February 14th first became associated with romantic love during the High Middle Ages as the tradition of courtly love was then flourishing.
Who is Valentine's Day named after? ›
Other accounts hold that it was St. Valentine of Terni, a bishop, for whom the holiday was named, though it is possible the two saints were actually one person. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor's orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.
