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Saturday, February 12, 2005
Valentine's Day Trivia
Found some Valentine's Day Trivia at Strange Cosmos. Some of this is kind of interesting.
- About three percent of pet owners give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets. (been talking to my mom again, haven't you?)
- One-third of all Valentine's Day cards are accompanied by gifts. (the good ones?)
- Hallmark has more than 1,330 different cards specifically for Valentine's Day. (go figure!)
- About one quarter of Valentine's Day cards have humorous messages. (I like those!)
- American women say they'd rather receive chocolate than flowers on Valentine's Day. (Do I really have to explain why? Chocolate releases some of the same chemical compounds in the brain as certain drugs. And it's legal. Flowers smell nice- if you're not allergic to them. That being said... if I could only choose one, I'm not sure which one I'd pick. hmmm.)
- Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and sweethearts. (maybe because guys would rather receive "gifts" on that other holiday. You know, the one in March. And... uh... that one's not quite PG-13. You've been warned.)
- About one billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. The holiday is second only to Christmas in terms of the number of cards sent. (Yet another reason why guys hate this "holiday." Forcing romance on the unsuspecting public in order to sell cards? Mean. Just plain mean.)
- The celebration of Valentine's Day can be traced to the ancient Roman holiday of the Lupercal, which honored Lupercus the Lycaean, who protected flocks of sheep from wolves. (So, to honor Lupercal, you make all the "wolves" buy chocolate and roses and little trinkets for the the poor innocent sheep? The sheep must have come up with this one.)
- Seventy percent of those celebrating Valentine's Day show their affection by giving a card. Others make a telephone call (49 percent), give a gift (48 percent), plan a special dinner (37 percent), give candy (33 percent), have a meal in a restaurant (30 percent), or give flowers (19 percent). (Make a phone call? Obviously they live far, far away, because no guy living in the same town as his sweetheart would be that... stupid, would they?)
- Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be Saint Valentine's Day in 498 A.D. (But don't blame poor Gelasius. It's not his fault it's gone nuts. I mean, we don't celebrate St. Blaise's feast day. I guess there's no market for blessing the throat... In case you're wondering if I've completely flipped my lid, I brought up St. Blaise for a reason. Every year, at the Catholic school I went to, they did the Blessing of St. Blaise on St. Valentine's Day, but his feast day is actually on Feb 3rd. I didn't know this until I started writing this. I smell a conspiracy of some sort.)
- Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine's Day candy box in the late 1800s. (So, gang, I guess we can blame him for this. That man has a lot to answer for- Valentine's Day... those nasty Easter eggs... but the Cadbury Bunny commercials are cute.)
- The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day. (uh... she's a fictional chara... never mind. It's not even worth it.)
- The Chocolate Manufacturers Association of America says 36 million boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day. (and Weight Watchers says it has a 10 percent jump in memberships on or about Feb 17th.)
- About 110 million roses, most of them red, will be sold for Valentine's Day this year. (Because black roses would just be wrong.)
- Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an "improvement in telegraphy," on Valentine's Day, 1876. (And parents became yelling "Get off the phone!" shortly thereafter.)
- Valentine's Day was originally associated with the mating season of birds. (Awww... that's so sweet... isn't that what I'm supposed to say?)
- Fifteen percent of women in the United States send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day. (That's just sad. I mean, is because their SO's are slugs and forgot? Or, is it because they don't have an SO, but they want everyone to think they do? Either one is... just sad.)
- During Abraham Lincoln's campaign for President, a Democrat named Valentine Tapley swore he would never shave again if Abe were elected. Tapley kept his word and his chin whiskers went unshaved from November 1860 until he died in 1910, attaining a length of 12 feet six inches. (Nice to know that Democrat's haven't changed over the years. They still throw temper tantrums if they don't get their way. Except now, they move to Canada.)
- Americans spend $655 million each Valentine's Day on candy, making it the fourth biggest holiday of the year for confectionery purchases, after Halloween, Christmas and Easter (in that order). (And the American Dental Association is both appalled and strangely excited by that fact.)
- In the U.S., it's estimated that 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for Valentine's Day. (Only 64 percent? Surprising. Doesn't quite fit the stereotype, does it?)
- During Victorian times, it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine's Day card. (Bad luck? So, they unintentionally invented the Secret Admirer. And the Stalker.)
- Eighty percent of all Valentine cards are purchased for relatives. (Really? That's sweet. I mean it this time.)
