According to Hallmark, a whopping 145 million Valentine's day cards are exchanged every February 14 (and that's not even including all those kids' valentines exchanged in classrooms). This makes Valentine's Day the second biggest holiday for exchanging greeting cards, after Christmas. And how sweet: Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards annually, followed by children, mothers and wives. Needless to say, we've come a long way from 1913, which was when Hallmark Cards produced their first Valentine's card.
Richard Cadbury, son of Cadbury founder John Cadbury, started packaging chocolates in fancy boxes to increase sales. He introduced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for V-Day in 1861, and today, more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold each year. That's 58 million pounds of chocolate!
And what better day is there for a marriage proposal than a day literally dedicated to love and romance? Valentine's Day is one of the popular days to pop the question, with as many as 6 million couples getting engaged on February 14. And according to the results of this survey, Valentine's Day was voted the best day of the year to propose than any other day — and of those people who voted, 40% were men!
He's the charming cherub that appears on Valentine's Day cards, often depicted with a bow and arrow — but how did Cupid become a common symbol of Valentine's Day? According to Time, the figure can actually be traced all the way back to 700 B.C., to the Greek god of love named Eros, who was actually a handsome, immortal man with the intimidating power to make people fall in love. It wasn't until the 4th century that the Romans adopted Eros into the image of a cute little boy with a bow and arrow, naming him "Cupid." By the turn of the 19th century, Cupid had become linked to Valentine's Day due to his love-matching powers.
Every February 14 from around the world sweethearts exchange chocolates, flowers and lavish gifts to celebrate the most romantic day of the year: Valentine's Day. This popular day is now known as a day full of Hallmark cards, flowers and dinner for two.
Be Safe.
Pat Locke, Maestro Muse
