Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day Fun Facts You Don’t Know

For most of us upcoming Valentine’s Day is associated with roses, chocolates, cards and fancy dinners with our loved ones. We are most probably familiar with some basic traditions and history facts but is there anything more to the holiday? There definitely is and you’re about to discover Valentine’s Day from a new perspective.

Chocolate

In the 19th century doctors advised their patients with broken heart to eat chocolate in order to sooth the pain from the lost love. To this day, many women find comfort in a box of chocolates when dealing with heartbreak.
Casanova, well known as “The World’s Greatest Lover,” ate chocolate to make him virile.
There’s no secret that chocolate and Valentine’s Day go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Richard Cadbury from the Cadbury chocolates company is responsible for popularizing Valentine’s Day chocolates. It was him who first presented his beloved one chocolates in a heart-shaped box.
Now over 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold every year on Valentine’s Day.
In U.S alone people spend over $1 billion worth of chocolate for Valentine’s Day.

Flowers

73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men.
15% of U.S. women send flowers on Valentine’s Day to… themselves.

The most popular Valentine’s Day flower is a single red rose surrounded with baby’s breath.
A red rose is considered the flower of love because of their color that stands for strong romantic feelings.
Red roses were favorite flowers of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
Over 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day.
While California produces over 60% of American roses, the most flowers sold on Valentine’s Day in the U.S. are imported from South America.

Valentine’s Day Cards

About 85% of all Valentine’s Day cards are bought by women.
Over half of all cards are purchased less than a week prior to the holiday, making Valentine’s Day a procrastinator’s delight.
Teachers will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by kids, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

Random Facts

Many believe the X symbol became synonymous with the kiss in medieval times. People who couldn’t write their names signed in front of a witness with an X. The X was then kissed to show their sincerity.

About 3% of pet owners will be spending over $700 million on Valentine’s gifts for their pets.
220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals made on Valentine’s Day each year.
Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers and engaged couples. But did you know he is also the patron saint of epilepsy (which St.Valentine is said to have suffered), plague, greetings, travelers, young people, and bee keepers.

For more information about Valentine’s Day or other holidays please visit www.GiftBasketsOverseas.com

Unusual Valentine’s Day Traditions Around the World

Gift Suggestions / Admin

The holiday of love, Valentine’s Day, is celebrated with enthusiasm throughout the world. Most commonly observed Valentine’s tradition is expressing one’s love with an exchange of romantic gifts , flowers and cards. However in some countries the holiday has its own unique customs. With this said let’s get familiar with the most unusual Valentine’s Day traditions around the world.

Valentine’s Day in Japan: Worshiping Men

Japanese Valentine’s Day is all about spoiling men and not the other way around like in most Western cultures. In Japan, women are expected to give romantic Valentine’s gifts, mostly chocolates to the important men in their lives. This tradition was started as a marketing campaign by Japanese chocolate companies in 1950s and quickly gained a big popularity. To this day gifting different types of Valentine’s chocolates helps express the nature of one’s relationship without the need for words. For example, there are four main types of chocolate gifts each carrying its own message. ‘Obligation chocolate’ meant for men without any romantic interest like bosses, colleagues, male relatives and friends. ‘Ultra-obligatory chocolate’ which are given out of courtesy to distant acquaintances. ‘True feeling chocolate’ given to boyfriends, lovers or husbands. And lastly ‘Friend chocolate’ presented to female friends.

One month later on White Day (March 14), men are expected to return gifts to women who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Traditionally such gifts are supposed to be at least two or three times more valuable than received ones. Not returning the gift is perceived as the man placing himself in a position of superiority. And returning a present of equal value is considered as a way to say that you are ending the relationship. Originally only chocolates were given to women on White Day, but now it’s accompanied by jewelry, flowers, plush toys, lingerie, clothing, etc.

Valentine’s Day in South Korea: White Day vs. Black Day

Just like in Japan women in South Korea spoil their men with chocolates on Valentine’s Day. In return, they receive gifts on ‘White Day’ from men. However, the custom doesn’t end there. Koreans have taken Valentine’s traditions a step further and introduced a “Black Day” observed on April 14.

On this day those who did not receive any lovin’ (chocolates or gifts) on Valentine’s Day and White Day accordingly, go to a restaurant with other single friends and eat a dish of so called black noodles. Some refer to this custom as a celebration of the single life, while for others it is more a consolation dinner or mourning of being single.

Valentine’s Day in Taiwan: Going in Reverse

In Taiwan, the Japanese and South Korean tradition of Valentine’s and White Day is reversed. Meaning that men give romantic gifts on Valentine’s Day whereas women return the favor by gifting men chocolates on White Day.

Valentine’s Day in Denmark & Norway: Love Poems and Easter Eggs

The tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day didn’t become popular in Scandinavian countries until more recently. However, the locals introduced their own quirky custom of celebrating the holiday their own way. “Gaekkebrev” are funny little poems or rhyming love notes that men send to women anonymously on Valentine’s Day. Using a given clue like the number of letters in the senders name, represented by a dot for each letter, a woman must guess who her secret admirer is. If she guesses correctly she receives an Easter Egg on Easter later that year but if she makes a mistake it’s her who has to give the sender an egg on Easter.

Valentine’s Day in Finland & Estonia: Viva La Friendship

Valentine’s Day in Finland and Estonia is more a celebration of friendship rather than a romantic occasion. Even the name of the holiday literally translates as a “Friend’s Day”. On this day people exchange cards & gifts with the greeting of “Happy Friends Day”.

If you want to send a token of love to your sweet Valentine visit www.GiftBasketsOverseas.com and browse through hundreds of romantic gift ideas to any taste.