Miscellaneous
What is the official bird of Valentines Day?
Dove
What is the most popular gift to give on Valentines day?
Chocolates - chocolate sales represent 75% or more of Valentine's Day candy purchases.
Which is the color and flower most known for Valentine's day?
A.White Daisys
B.Red Roses
C. Pink Roses
D.Yellow Sunflowers
E.Yellow Roses
B. Red roses
How did Valentine's Day get its name?
It’s named after St. Valentine - Several legends explain who St. Valentine was, with one of the most popular theories being he was a priest who officiated the weddings of soldiers during the third century AD. During this time, Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of creating stronger soldiers. Legend has it that Claudius found out about St. Valentine’s actions and put him to death, making St. Valentine a martyr for love.
True or False: Candy "conversation" hearts were originally medical lozenges.
True!
In 1847, Boston pharmacist Oliver Chase invented a machine that simplified the lozenge production process, resulting in the first candy-making machine. After identifying an opportunity to revolutionize the candy business, Chase shifted his focus to candy production with Necco wafers.
What is the name of the cherub with the bow and arrows we see everywhere on Valentine's Day?
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, and he's often depicted with a bow and arrows to pierce hearts and cast a spell of love.
Valentine's Day is the most popular day of the year for sending flowers. What is the second most popular day?
Mother's Day
Valentine's day is one of the most popular holidays for sending cards - how many do you think are sent?
An estimated 145 million greetings cards are exchanged in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day, according to Hallmark, making it the second largest holiday for greeting cards after Christmas.
Who wrote the 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules,” commonly believed to be the first record that depicts Valentine’s Day as a romantic day?
Geoffrey Chaucer
True or False:
The chocolate box has been around for more than 140 years.
True!
Richard Cadbury also introduced the first box of Valentine's Day chocolates in 1868.
Who is credited with publishing the first commercial Valentine in the United States?
Esther Howland. She started selling Valentines in her hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, and was nicknamed “The Mother of the American Valentine.”
About how many roses are sent for Valentine’s Day each year?
50 million
What does signing "xoxo" on a letter mean?
Hugs and kisses
The X was a Christian symbol that represented the cross, and the idea is that the history of Christians kissing statues of Christ or kissing the Bible led to X getting its meaning as a modern-day kiss.
Which English king declared Valentine’s Day a holiday in 1537?
King Henry the Eighth (yes, THAT King Henry)
What is the most popular piece in a box of chocolates?
Caramel chocolates are the most popular in a Valentine’s Day chocolate box, according to a survey conducted by the NCA. Chocolate-covered nuts were a close second.
What group of people receive the most valentines?
Teachers!
Oftentimes classrooms in elementary schools do fun Valentine exchanges to celebrate the holiday, which means that teachers often receive a sweet note from each of their students, making them the group of people who receive the most Valentines.
What state produces most of America's red roses?
California produces 60% of American roses, but interestingly enough, the vast number of roses sold on Valentine's Day in the U.S. are imported, mostly from Colombia.
The heart is the symbol of love - but where did that come from?
The heart was once widely believed to be humans' center of memory, where feelings of love were recorded. However, we have French and Italian artists from the 14th century to thank for the symbol that we know and love today, as they were the first ones to start using this motif in their work.
Where did the first known official celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day take place?
In Paris on February 14, 1400
How many conversation heart candies are made each year?
With a daily production of 100,000 pounds of Sweethearts, NECCO produces about eight billion conversation hearts per year.
While Valentine’s Day is associated with romance, some darker events have occurred on the holiday. In which U.S. city did the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre happen on February 14, 1929?
Chicago
Jewelry -
In a report from the National Retail Federation, Americans spent a whopping $4.1 billion on jewelry for their special someone for Valentine's Day 2021.
How old is the tradition of sending valentines?
600 years
The oldest record of a Valentine is a poem Charles, the Duke of Orleans, wrote to his wife when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415, in which he refers to his wife as his "Valentine."
What year did Valentine's Day become an official holiday?
In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius I made the feast of St. Valentine an official holiday
Lorraine Lorusso combined the two in the 1960s to create the decadent chocolate covered strawberry. She worked at a small gourmet store called the Stop N' Shop in Chicago at the time.