Sweet Facts and Figures for Valentine’s Day
by Theories on the origin of Valentine’s Day vary. The day is named after the patron saint, St. Valentine. Some believe he was jailed for helping Christians escape Roman prisons. Another theory is that St. Valentine served as a Roman priest for Claudius II, who outlawed the marriage of young men, ordering them to go to war instead. Secretly, St. Valentine married young couples and Claudius II ordered he be put to the death. Today, Valentine’s Day is a holiday where we celebrate our love. Here are a few facts, figures, traditions and superstitions about the holiday.
Saint Valentine was put to death February 14, 269 A.D. He left a note for his sweetheart, the jailer’s daughter, which read “From your Valentine.”
Pope Gelasius, in 469 A.D., declared February 14 as a day to honor Saint Valentine.
St. Valentine’s Day became an official holiday in 1537, declared by King Henry VII.
Saint Valentine is represented by birds and roses in paintings.
In the Middle Ages, people selected their sweetheart by drawing a name from a dish. They would wear the name pinned to their sleeve for one week, thus the saying “wear your heart on your sleeve.”
In Wales, people gave gifts of carved wooden spoons with intricate designs of hearts and keys, meaning “you unlock my heart”.
Many believe Valentine’s Day to be the beginning of bird-mating season. A woman who sees a goldfinch fly overhead will marry a millionaire. A woman seeing a sparrow, however, will marry a poor man.
If a woman receives a gift of clothing from a man on Valentine’s Day and keeps the gift, she will marry the man.
A Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine was found by archaeologists, proving he did exist.
Flowers are the most popular Valentine’s Day gift. 110 million roses, mostly red, are sold yearly.
Men buy 73% of flowers for Valentine’s Day, and 15% of women actually send flowers to themselves.
Women buy the most Valentine’s Day cards, around 85% of them.
Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas for the number of cards sent. Around 1 billion cards are sent each year.
Teachers receive the most cards on Valentine’s Day.
The little candy hearts with words printed on them are made by the candy company, NECCO. The first ones were made in 1866 and they were originally known as “motto hearts” instead of “conversation hearts”.
The average American spends around $80 on Valentine’s Day gifts.
Chocolate became a popular gift because it was once regarded as food of the gods and was so expensive it was only available to the very elite. Over 35 million heart shaped boxes of candy will be sold.
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