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Speaking of Valentine's Day

GodFather
Level 8
Level 8

I can't procrastinate much longer, but here's what I found while I have...

Valentine Day Oddities:
Odd Historical & Cultural Facts

  • The Original "Love Letter": The oldest surviving love poem is on a Sumerian clay tablet from around 3500 BC.
  • "Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve": In the Middle Ages, people drew names to pick a Valentine and pinned the name to their sleeve for a week.
  • Ban on Love: In 1653, Oliver Cromwell banned Valentine's Day celebrations in England as immoral.
  • Insulting Cards: In the Victorian era, "Vinegar Valentines" were popular, which were cards designed to insult or reject unwanted suitors.
  • Medieval Love Tests: Girls in the Middle Ages ate strange foods on Valentine’s Day to trigger dreams about their future husbands.
  • Not Always Romantic: In Finland, Feb. 14 is called "Friend's Day" and focuses on celebrating friends rather than romance.
  • Double Celebration: In South Korea, women give gifts to men on Feb. 14, and men return the favor on March 14 (White Day). 

Weird Traditions & Trends

  • Name a Cockroach: Several zoos allow you to name a cockroach after an ex-partner, often feeding them to other animals on Valentine's Day.
  • Statehood Day: Both Oregon and Arizona became states on February 14th.
  • The "X" in XOXO: In medieval times, people who couldn't write signed documents with an 'X' and kissed it to show sincerity, originating the symbol for a kiss.
  • Popular Pizza: While candy and flowers dominate, 41% of Americans think pizza is the most underrated Valentine's Day food. 

Surprising Numbers

  • Pet Gifts: Roughly 9 million people buy Valentine's Day gifts for their pets.
  • The Candy Volume: Over 8 billion conversation hearts are produced annually.
  • Rose Demand: 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S. for the holiday.
  • Chocolate Boxes: Over 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold every year. 

 

5 Comments 5
sjrcpa
Level 15

Heard about this on the radio this morning.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/02/12/rhode-island-valentines-day-fundraiser-cat-litter


The more I know the more I don’t know.
IRonMaN
Level 15
  • "The Original "Love Letter": The oldest surviving love poem is on a Sumerian clay tablet from around 3500 BC."

Funny Bob has never mentioned that his love letter is still around after all of these years 😜


Slava Ukraini!
George4Tacks
Level 15
IRonMaN
Level 15

I think the zoos missed on a golden opportunity.  If they would have advertised the "Name a Cockroach" here for the past three weeks, they would have had thousands of cockroaches named either Intuit, Lacerte, ProConnect, or ProSeries. 😀


Slava Ukraini!
George4Tacks
Level 15

Don't forget the wonderful roll out of EasyAcct!!


Answers are easy. Questions are hard!