| This contest is fueled by the following news: |
| | The National Retail Federation has announced that it expects Americans to spend upwards to $14 billion for the Valentine's Day holiday. Howard Davidowitz, a retail consultant, states that restaurants and retailers that sell cards, candy, flowers and jewelry, will lead the way during the Valentine's Day sales rush. He also noted that online flower sales should also be very strong. He noted that more jewelry also is being sold over the Internet. The average consumer is expected to spend $108 on a Valentine's Day gift.
For the first time, valentines were put for sale in 1840s, when Ester Howland released her first batch of greeting cards in United States of America. Already in the first year, she sold these bright cards for the sum of 5,000 dollars. Since then, valentines became an integral part of Sacred Valentine holiday in USA. With respect to volume of sales, valentines occupy first place as over billion valentines are sold annually only in America and sale of Christmas cards stand at second place.
Women buy most of the Valentine's Day greeting cards (approximately 85% of cards). Also, on Lovers day February 14, people buy boxes of sweets, chocolates and bouquets of roses (as a rule, these gifts are bought by men) for their loved ones.
But, how the Valentine's Day originated? For this, several versions exist. In this article, we shall talk about the history of Lover's Day, its traditions, which took shape during all these long years.
How did the Lover's Day originated:
Origin of Valentine's Day is shrouded with mystery. Professor from Notre Dame University, Lawrence Konningen, says that, two widely spread theories of origin of Lover's Day exists as on today:
1. Roman holiday Lupercalia: On February 14th, one day prior to Roman holiday Lupercalia, people celebrated pagan holiday of fertility. On this day, they showered with gifts and worshipped queen of the Roman gods and goddesses Juno, who was also considered as the patroness of marriage. Girls wrote love letters, which were called "tickets", and put them in a special jar. Men would take a note from special jar. After reading the letter and name of the girl, men would approach the girl. This custom existed till 18th century, and later on people decided that it would be better to select his or her valentine on their own instead of leaving it to the mercy of destiny.
2. Second theory is linked to the behavior of birds and bees. In the Middle Age, many lover pairs send love messages to each other on this day as they considered that many birds began "marriages" on 14th February. |
|
| | 25 Contest Pictures Page 1 2 3 - View All
|
|
(we also just upped our life insurance for some reason)
