Can YOU Feel the Love this Month?

Although the origin of St. Valentine’s is a mystery, it is a holiday that is praised and hated each year worldwide. Everyone knows the stereotypical ‘cupid shoots you with his magic arrow and then you instantly fall in love with the first person you lay eyes on’ but is that really what St. Valentine was all about?

There are many legends about St. Valentine; one legend is that St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men, who were his main target for potential soldiers. Valentine decided to defy Emperor Caludius II and continued to marry lovers and couples in private. When Claudius heard of Valentine’s defiance, he demand that he be put to death. That is just one legend though, we may never be certain of the origin of Valentine’s Day.

Now let’s move on to something we know a lot about, the commercial side of Valentine’s Day.

85% of all Valentine’s Day cards are bought by women
73% of flowers are bought by men

Contrary to popular belief, Valentine’s Day is not the most popular holiday for greeting cards. According to the  Greeting Card Association, 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually making Valentine’s Day the second most popular greeting card-giving occasion, after Christmas of course.

The average U.S. consumer spent around $102 on Valentine’s Day gifts, meals and entertainment in 2009. Roughly 92% of married Americans with children will spend most of that money (about $67) on their spouse and the rest goes to gifts for kids, friends, coworkers, and even pets.

For all of those people that seem to think that being hitched on Valentine’s Day is the most important thing, look no further because it is not impossible to be with someone. Studies show that there are 119 single men in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same age.

Now if you missed out on this year’s Valentine’s Day, have no fear because there will be plenty more in your lifetime. They won’t get any less commercial but there will still be more.