Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – February 13, 2007

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.

HAPPY HEART DAY!

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. Hallmark Cards, alone, has more than 1,330 different cards specifically for Valentine’s Day. That’s the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.
Teachers will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.
15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day. 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27% are women.
California produces 60% of American roses, but the vast number sold on Valentine’s Day in the United States are imported, mostly from South America. Approximately 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.
Valentine’s Day is big business. Consumers will spend an average of $77.43 on Valentine’s Day gifts this year. E-commerce retailers expect to rack up about $650 million in sales of food, candy, flowers, and other Valentine’s Day gifts. Of that amount about $350 million will be for gifts and flowers and another $45 million will be spent on food (including chocolate) and wine.
In the United States, 64% of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their sweethearts.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services.