Valentine’s Day Trivia

In honor of the upcoming festivities and our love for trivia, we found some facts that are a perfect match for the two.....

• About three percent of pet owners give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.

• Hallmark has more than 1,330 different cards specifically for Valentine’s Day.

• Second Highest Card Sending Holiday.

•  The greeting card association estimates that approximately one billion valentine’s are sent annually world-wide, making it the second highest card sending holiday, behind Christmas.

• Valentine’s Day Cards. Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers anymore. More than 190 Valentine’s Day cards are bought every year, including cards for friends, family, and lovers. If you add in the Valentine’s that children exchange in class, that number increases to over 1 billion Valentine’s per year.

•  Married Valentine’s. During the mid-17th century, even married folk took a Valentine and that person was not always their legal significant other. 

•  Meaning of the Word Valentine. The name Valentine comes from the Latin word valor, meaning worthy.

•  Name for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day was named for two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine who were associated with romantic love in the middle ages. 

• Official Holiday. St. Valentine’s Day was declared an official holiday in 1537 when England’s King Henry VIII declared it for the first time. 

•  In the Middle Ages, people believed that the first unmarried person of the opposite sex that they met on the morning of Valentine’s Day was the person they were destined to marry.

• In Medieval times, girls ate unusual foods on St Valentine’s Day to make them dream of their future husband.

• February 14th was long associated with fertility and love even before St. Valentine lived. It was the day that birds traditionally chose their mates. 

•  Valentine Celtic Wooden Spoons. The ancient celtic tradition of giving hand carved wooden love spoons as Valentine’s gifts began in Wales. Often, hearts, keys, and keyholes, symbolizing that the receiver unlocked the giver’s heart, were carved as decoration on the spoon. 

•  It was believed that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor.

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