Saturday 14 February 2009

One Billion and One Cards!



The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. Does this picture count as a Valentine? If so make that 1,000,000,001!

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.

2 comments:

  1. On Valentine's Day i'll post my interpretation of Valentine's Day - it's a little "different" than the usual context ( since i'm an artist, people will almost expect it)- didn't know though that it was named after a Christian martyr.
    cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it is only right that men spend more on Valentines. I'm not sure I have any rational reason for thinking it, but think it I do.

    Maybe it's to make up for the lack of housework equality?

    Any excuse to show others how much we love them is okay with me!

    ReplyDelete

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