How many valentines are mailed each year

But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from? The St. Valentine who inspired the holiday may have been two different men. Officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, St. Valentine is known to be a real person who died around A. However, his true identity was questioned as early as A. The work of these authors, poets and playwrights speaks to the enduring On February 14, when we share chocolates, special dinners, or doily cards with our loved ones, we do it in the name of Saint Valentine.

But who was this saint of romance? Search the internet, and you can find plenty of stories about him—or them. One Saint Valentine was Long before there was a Grinch who stole Christmas, there was Krampus, the devilish half-man, half-goat that helps out jolly St. Nicholas by stuffing naughty Austrian children in sacks and dragging them to hell.

Yes, the true history of Christmas is as colorful While St. The earliest known celebrations were held in the 17th century on March 17, marking the anniversary Gang warfare ruled the streets of Chicago during the late s, as chief gangster Al Capone sought to consolidate control by eliminating his rivals in One of the most prolific Valentine card writers was Queen Victoria, who delighted in sending perfumed missives to Royal aides on February 14 th and watching their reactions when the post arrived during her long rain there was a boom in leap year cards, when women were traditionally allowed to pop the question.

Hilarious cards were produced, many showing large women in hot pursuit of small men; but although the customer remains, the sending of leap year cards was a short-lived phenomenon. The Greeting Card Association provides a free down-loadable toolkit for retailers to use remind everyone to buy their cards!

Login 0 Items. Earliest known Valentine circa However, it was those cruel Roman emperors, persecuting Christians, who we have to thank for modern Valentines. Royal Romance One of the most prolific Valentine card writers was Queen Victoria, who delighted in sending perfumed missives to Royal aides on February 14 th and watching their reactions when the post arrived during her long rain there was a boom in leap year cards, when women were traditionally allowed to pop the question.

Calling all Retailers! Queen Victoria was a very prolific sender of Valentine cards. She loved sending perfume scented cards to her royal aide there watching their reaction when they received them. Some suitors never give up! However, that did not stop him; he climbed down her chimney and pledged his love.

It was a case of 16th time lucky! Cards are a good tangible way of keeping in touch, and mean more than a social media message which are sent all the time.

This post is categorised as:. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. And how sweet: Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards annually , followed by children, mothers and wives.

Needless to say, we've come a long way from , which was when Hallmark Cards produced their first Valentine's card. Hey, furry friends need love, too! In fact, around It was created by Richard Cadbury , son of Cadbury founder John Cadbury, who started packaging chocolates in fancy boxes to increase sales.

He introduced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for V-Day in , and today, more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold each year. That's 58 million pounds of chocolate! Weirdly enough, the story of conversation hearts first began when a Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase invented a machine that simplified the way medical lozenges — used for sore throats and other illnesses — could be made. The result was America's first candy-making machine, because the pharmacist soon started shifting his focus from making lozenges to candy instead!

Chase founded the New England Confectionery Company, or Necco, and the candy lozenges soon became what we know today as Necco wafers. It was Oliver's brother, Daniel Chase, who started printing sentimental messages on the Necco sweethearts, though these candies were bigger than the versions we have today — and featured much longer printed sayings and phrases.

Some of the first messages? Please be considerate. And Necco has to start making them just days after February 14 to have enough in time for the next Valentine's Day. That's almost , pounds per day! Each box has approximately 45 sayings — including "True Love," "Hug Me" and "You Rock" — but you can personalize your own, too. But don't worry if you still have last year's box — they have a shelf life of five years.

I mean, what better day is there for a marriage proposal than a day literally dedicated to love and romance? Valentine's Day is one of the popular days to pop the question, with as many as 6 million couples getting engaged on February Though couples exchange flowers and chocolate on this day, the holiday's focus is also directed at showing gratitude to friends!

In Japan, it's customary for just the women to give confections to the men in their lives, with the quality of the chocolate indicating their true feelings, according to Fortune.