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Valentine’s Day: February 14
One legend has it that Valentine’s Day originated to commemorate the
anniversary of the death of St. Valentine, a Roman clergyman who was executed on
Feb 14, about 270 AD, for secretly marrying couples in defiance of the emperor.
According to another, the holiday began as a Roman fertility festival. Americans
probably began exchanging handmade valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s,
Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, began to sell the nation’s first
mass-produced valentine cards.
Valentine’s Cards
180 million
Number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the
second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged
kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research)
Nearly 50 percent
Typically, the proportion of all Valentine’s Day cards purchased in the six days
prior to the observance, making Valentine’s Day a procrastinator’s delight.
(Source: Hallmark research)
65%
Percentage of the nation’s households which purchase a greeting card for
Valentine’s Day, making this act the top way to celebrate this observance. Other
popular ways to celebrate include “date night” (44 percent) and giving candy (38
percent), flowers (32 percent), gift cards (29 percent), plush (i.e., stuffed
toys) (21 percent), perfume/ cologne (12 percent), jewelry (11 percent) and
other gifts (17 percent). (Source: Hallmark research.)
About 40%
Proportion of all Valentine card purchases which parents account for. (Source:
Hallmark research.)
Young and Looking for Love
120
Number of single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) who are in their
20s for every 100 single women of the same ages. Corresponding numbers for the
following race and ethnic groups are:
Hispanics: 153 men per 100 women
Asians (single race): 132 men per 100 women
Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 120 men per 100 women
Blacks (single race): 92 men per 100 women
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html>
Young at Heart and Looking for Love
33
Number of single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) age 65 or older
for every 100 single women of the same ages. Corresponding numbers for the
following race and ethnic groups are:
Hispanics: 38 men per 100 women
Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 33 men per 100 women
Blacks (single race): 33 men per 100 women
Asians (single race): 28 men per 100 women
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html>
Try Looking Here
Below are names of some romantic-sounding places:
Valentine, NE
Lovelady, TX
Valentine, TX
Loving County, TX
Loveland, CO
Lovington, NM
Lovejoy, GA
Loving, NM
Loves Park, IL
Love County, OK
Lovelock, NV
Lovington, IL
Love Valley, NC
Romeo, CO
Loveland, OH
Romeo, MI
Loveland Park, OH
Romeoville, IL
Loveland, OK
(Source: American FactFinder)
Be Mine
2.2 million
The number of marriages that take place in the United States annually. That
breaks down to more than 6,000 a day. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/>
145,800
The number of marriages performed in Nevada during 2004. So many couples “tie
the knot” in the Silver State that it ranked fourth nationally in marriages,
even though its total population that year among states was 35th.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr53/nvsr53_21.pdf>
25.8 and 27.4
The estimated US median ages at first marriage for women and men, respectively,
in 2004. The age for women rose 4.7 years in the last three decades. The age for
men at first marriage is up 4.3 years. <http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ms2.pdf>
Men and women in northeastern states generally have a higher median age at
first marriage than the national average. In Massachusetts, for example, women
were a median of 27.4 years old and men 29.1 years of age at first marriage.
States where people typically marry young include Utah, where women were a
median of age 21.9 and men, 23.9 years. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/fertility/005807.html>
54% and 57%
The percentages of American women and men, respectively, who are 15 or older and
currently married (includes those who are separated).
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html>
4.7 milllion
Number of opposite-sex cohabitating couples who maintained households in 2004.
These couples comprised 4.2 percent of all households.
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html>
Candy is Dandy
1,271
Number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2003. These
establishments employed 43,379 people. California led the nation in the number
of such establishments (with 146) followed by Pennsylvania (with 120).
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
519
Number of locations that produced nonchocolate confectionary products in 2003.
These establishments employed 23,343 people.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
$13.5 billion
Total value of shipments in 2003 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa
products. Nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was a
$5.5 billion industry.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/am0331gs1.pdf>
3,523
Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2003. Often
referred to as candy stores, they are among the best sources of sweets for
Valentine’s Day.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
24.7 pounds
Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2004. Candy consumption has
actually declined over the last few years; in 1997, each American gobbled or
savored more than 27 pounds of candy a year.
<http://www.census.gov/industry/1/ma311d04.pdf>
Flowers
$422 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2004 for
all flower-producing businesses in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales.
Among states, California was the leading producer, alone accounting for nearly
three-quarters of this amount ($304 million). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
$43 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2004 for all
businesses in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales. Among all types of cut
flowers, roses were second in receipts to lilies ($78 million). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
22,022
The number of florists nationwide in 2003. These businesses employed 113,270
people.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
Jewelry
28,527
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2003. Jewelry stores offer
engagement, wedding and other rings to lovers of all ages. In February 2005,
these stores sold
$2.4 billion worth of merchandise. (This figure has not been adjusted for
seasonal variation, holiday or trading day differences or price changes.) <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
The merchandise at these locations could well have been produced at one of the
nation’s 1,892 jewelry manufacturing establishments. The manufacture of jewelry
was an $8.6 billion industry in 2003.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>
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