Love By the Numbers
Even if you don’t own a calendar, you can tell it’s almost Valentine’s Day just by stepping into any store or turning on the television. Yes, February 14 is upon us, so it’s best to be prepared. While there is no exact timeline to determine when Valentine’s Day started, it can be traced back to early religious celebrations of Saint Valentinus. In 18th Century England, the observation became less affiliated with religion and more about a day to express love and admiration for someone special in your life.
According to history.com, there are over 140 million cards exchanged every Valentine’s Day, which makes it the second-most popular card giving occasion. Interestingly, more than half of the U.S. population purchases a Valentine card. This figure excludes school classroom Valentine exchanges, by the way.
We went searching for some interesting facts related to Valentine’s Day and this is what we uncovered.
There are 119 single men (never married) in their 20s per 100 single women of the same age. I think this is where we make a “lots of fish in the sea” joke…
There are 34 single men (never married) ages 65 and up per 100 single women of the same age. Uh oh.
It’s no surprise that candy, flowers and jewelry have long been popular gifts associated with the Valentine holiday in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau even keeps stats on these economic categories!
- 43,000+ Number of people employed by chocolate and cocoa confections companies in the U.S.
- 3,400+ Number of candy stores in the U.S. (2004)
- 25.7 pounds Per capita consumption of candy by Americans, but the number has been decreasing in recent years (2005)
- 21,600+ Number of florists nationwide (2004)
- 110,000 Number of people employed by florists in the U.S.
- 28,000+ Number of jewelry stores in the United States (2004)
- $2.6 billion Sales in jewelry stores nationwide in February (2006)
With all of the commercialized messaging around Valentine’s Day, most of us have no idea that it’s a day to celebrate anything else. A little research tell us that February 14 is also a day you can choose to celebrate a number of other things besides love. According to the National Day Calendar, it is National Organ Donor Day, National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day and National Ferris Wheel Day. So, choose something you love and celebrate that!
Sources: www.history.com, www.pexels.com, www.nationaldaycalendar.com and www.census.gov