Happy Valentine’s Day!

by

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. I hope you all are enjoying a very lovely Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day has always been somewhat special to me – my birthday falls on February 13 so I always conflate the two into one celebration. And I started the celebration with a gift to me – I wrapped up the book I was working on (Book 3 in my Amish of Hope’s Haven series) and was able to give myself a short breather before starting my next work – this one will be a fun western set historical romance!

Then, this past Friday me, my hubby and most of my kids and their families, 9 of us in total, went out to a  Cirque du Soleil performance. It was soooooo much fun!  And then yesterday, on my actual birthday, ALL the kids and their families came over and one of my sons-in-law cooked some meat on the grill for a great birthday lunch. My birthday cake was a yummy King cake, a tradition since my birthday always falls during Mardi Gras season. All in all a great birthday weekend.

But this post is supposed to be about Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d bring you a quick list of Trivia, Fun Facts and Statistics around this romantic holiday.

 

  • Most everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is named for St. Valentine, but did you know there were actually two St. Valentine’s? Both lived during the third century
    One St. Valentine was a priest who helped Christians escape from Roman prisons. It is said he fell in love with a woman who visited him when he himself was thrown in prison and that he wrote her letters that he signed “From your Valentine.”
    The other was also a priest. This Valentine defied a Roman emperor who refused to allow his soldiers to marry because he believed it was too big a distraction. Valentine wed soldiers to their sweethearts in secret until he was eventually caught and executed.
  • The first Valentine’s celebration is thought to have taken place on February 14 in 1400. It happened in Paris when King Charles VI established the High Court of Love. Run entirely by women, this court with marriage contracts, infidelity, divorce and domestic abuse.

  • People have been sending Valentines for over 600 years. The first known record of a valentine is from 1415. It is from a poem written by the Duke of Orleans to his wife whom he refers to as his very gentle Valentine.
  • The first mass-produced Valentines cards came about in the 1840s. Before that Valentine’s Day missives were handwritten. Esther A. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, is credited with commercializing Valentine’s Day cards in America.
  • The first heart shaped box of candy was created by Richard Cadbury and introduced in 1861

 

  • And speaking of candy, we can’t talk about Valentine’s Day without mentioning conversation hearts. They were actually invented by Oliver Chase, a Boston pharmacist. He actually invented machine to make the way medical lozenges could be made. But it wasn’t long before he began using his machine to make candy, a more lucrative field. He actually founded the New England Confectionery Company or NECCO which is where we get NECCO wafers from. Eventually, in 1866 to be more specific, Oliver’s brother Daniel started printing the sweet little messages on the candy. Today over 8 billion conversation hearts are printed each year, and the manufacturer works year round to have enough ready for the holiday. (they have a shelf life of about 5 years)
  • The tradition of giving flowers to your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day began in the Victorian era

 

Some interesting stats (as of 2018)

  • Approximately 180 million cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day

 

  • Women buy about 85 percent of those cards (naturally!)
  • Men buy 73 percent of the Valentine’s Day flowers
  • According to the National Retail Foundation, American will spend more than 20 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day gifts. That number may not surprise you, but did you know that over 27 million Americans will give Valentine’s gifts to their pets.
  • More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold each year.
  • Each box of conversation hearts has about 45 unique sayings.

 

So there’s my short and sweet take on Valentine’s Day trivia. Did any of this surprise you? Do you have any tidbits or fun facts of your own to share? Or perhaps a story of your favorite Valentine’s Day experience?
Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a book from my backlist as well as a little Valentine’s Day surprise – a  book lover heart.

 

Website |  + posts

Winnie Griggs is the author of Historical (and occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts, Amazing Grace. She is also a list maker, a lover of dragonflies and holds an advanced degree in the art of procrastination.
Three of Winnie’s books have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and one of those nominations resulted in a win.
Winnie loves to hear from readers. You can connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author or email her at winnie@winniegriggs.com.

56 thoughts on “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

  3. The only one that truly surprised me was the one about the conversation hearts. Hard to believe the company that produces them came up with that many sayings that are short enough to fit.

  5. Happy Birthday! Happy Valentines Day! I enjoyed all of the very interesting info about Valentines Day!

  7. Happy Birthday. My birthday is on Thursday. The valentines remind me of the ones we had when I was in grade school. I used to love the conversational hearts, but haven’t ate them in years (cut down on eating candy).

  8. Happy Birthday! Happy Valentine’s Day!
    This is our daughter’s anniversary.
    I always thought it was a great day for a wedding!

  9. Happy Belated Birthday, and Happy Valentine’s Day! I did not know any of this, to be honest!! I figured more women buy the cards and men the flowers, but didn’t know all of the other facts, and how long it’s been celebrated! I think part of the reason women buy more cards is they buy the ones for their kids to take to school!!

  10. After my dad died, I remembered my mom with gifts from him for many years on Valentines Day. They were so close and he died so young. I also remembered her in thoughtful ways as a daughter would do. Now that they are both gone, I’m laying some love on my grandkids. It is so much fun to share homemade cookies and a treat bag. Happy Valentines Day Winnie. And, happy birthday. Loved reading about family celebration.

  11. Happy Birthday and Valentines Day! Your article was very interesting. I liked exchanging valentines at school as a child, but don’t do it as an adult. I love the candy and try to find some after holiday sales the next day.

  14. Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day! I always loved have Valentine cards exchanged at school it was always so much enjoyment! Have a Great Day!

  16. Happy Birthday, my husband sent me a card on valentines day with a proposal of marriage. My birthday is the 22nd.Next week.

  18. I didn’t know that conversation hearts have a 5 year shelf life. That’s good to know, but they probably will get eaten long before they are a month in my home. Happy Valentine’s Day!

  20. Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t think I knew about the “other” St. Valentine, the one that was not beheaded. My hubby is a great gift-giver so Valentine’s Day is always fun. Always flowers, a bit of candy and usually something unique, like the book, Eat What You Watch: A cookbook for movie lovers. Enjoy the day and thanks for the giveaway.

  21. A belated Happy Birthday. It sounds like you had a perfect day.
    Our second daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, the 15th. That year’s Valentines Day was the most miserable I ever spent.
    Most of what You related, I had heard over the years, except for their being two St. Valentines. I just heard a few days ago about the jailed one, but not the details. Thank you for filling in the details. We spend a low key day. The restaurants are too crowded and we are still not eating in packed restaurants yet. We usually fix a nice meal at home, but won’t even do that this year since we each have a meeting (in different towns) tonight. We do exchange cards every year and my husband brought chocolates home this morning. After almost 50 years, that is enough for me.

  23. Hi Winnie, Happy Belated Birthday and Happy Valentines Day! It sounds like you had a great birthday with all your loved ones, it is always so special when we are surrounded by our loved ones on our birthday. I enjoyed this trivia, thank you for sharing it, and yes a couple of things that I didn’t know, always fun to know, . When I was in elementary school, we always made our Valentine boxes and we always had a little party at school, it was so much fun. I used to love helping my 2 now adult grown children with little families of their own make their Valentine boxes, such special memories. Have a great evening and a great rest of the week and stay safe.

  24. Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day! I remember getting those conversation hearts in class when I was a kid, but I never ate that kind of candy since I never really liked it.

  25. My birthday is Valentine’s Day. It’s always felt special to be a Valentine’s baby! My son always cooks me a fantastic meal, and my granddaughters shower me with gifts. this year, they got me some new flowers for the yard to be shipped when the warmer weather arrives. So looking forward to that. Going to try again to grow lilacs here NE of Dallas., as I love their scent!

  26. Happy belated Birthday Winnie!!! Interesting tidbits on Valentine’s Day, its really not a big thing in my household. Sorry about being late on posting but your emails don’t always come through.

  27. I’ve never really had a Valentine’s experience, so I can’t say much there. I enjoy the silly atmosphere though and the chocolate that goes on sale afterward. ?

  28. I have a very special Valentine’s memory. My husband proposed to me on February 13 50 years ago . He took me to dinner and a movie, then proposed before he took me home. He gave me a corsage with 6 red rose buds on it. I still have that corsage.

Comments are closed.