10 Facts You Didn't Know About Valentine's Day
| Features
Since it's the day of love and relationships, we thought we'd give you 10 facts you probably didn't know about Valentine's Day.
1. In Victorian times, it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine’s Day card.
2. Based on retail statistics, about 3 per cent of pet owners will give gifts to their pets on this day.
3. About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year.
4. 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.
5. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one week for everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve."
6. Physicians of the 1800s commonly advised their patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining for lost love.
7. The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
8. Every Valentine's Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.
9. Valentine’s cards are big news for those of school age but surprisingly it is teachers, not pupils, who stand to benefit the most. Teachers generally receive the largest number of Valentine’s Day cards with children, mothers, wives and pets (yes, pets) filling the rest of the top five recipient’s list.
10. Men account for 73 percent of Valentine's Day flower sales.
MORE FROM THE BLOG
-
How to keep your New Year’s Reading Resolution
| Features
Every year, on January 1st (then or shortly after) you will always here someone proclaim: “I should really read more this year.” It’s often, just like every other New Year’s resolution, a hollow promise. Well-intended and easily achievable (“r...
read more -
Celebrating Pride: LGBTQ+ Must-Reads!
| Features
At Pegasus Publishers, we are proud to feature LGBTQ+ authors in our catalogue. This week, during this annual Pride Month, we wanted to spotlight three titles by LGBTQ+ authors, depicting LGBTQ+ characters. Ina Shicoff- "Invisible Boundaries" A story of diversity, adversity...
read more