Did you know that nearly 150 million cards are exchanged each Valentine’s Day? Or that more than 40,000 American are employed at chocolate companies? Explore these and dozens more Valentine’s Day facts about cards, chocolate, flowers and candy, the hallmarks of St. Valentine’s Day.
Looking for Love 141 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research) Did You Know? In addition to the U.S., Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark, Italy and Japan. Over 50 percent of all Valentine’s Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the observance, making Valentine’s Day a procrastinator’s delight. (Source: Hallmark research) Research reveals that more than half of the U.S. population celebrates Valentine’s Day by purchasing a greeting card. (Source: Hallmark research) There are 119 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) who are in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same ages. Corresponding numbers for the following race and ethnic groups are: •Hispanics: 153 men per 100 women •Asians (single race): 132 men per 100 women (This ratio is not significantly different from that for Hispanics or non-Hispanic whites.) •Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 120 men per 100 women •Blacks (single race): 92 men per 100 women (The numbers of black men and women in this age group are not significantly different from one another. There are 34 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) age 65 or older for every 100 single women of the same ages. Corresponding numbers for the following race and ethnic groups are: •Hispanics: 38 men per 100 women •Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 33 men per 100 women •Blacks (single race): 33 men per 100 women •Asians (single race): 28 men per 100 women (Note: None of the ratios for the individual groups differ significantly from one another nor from the ratio for all people age 65 or older.) 904: The number of dating service establishments nationwide as of 2002. These establishments, which include Internet dating services, employed nearly 4,300 people and pulled in $489 million in revenues. Be Mine 2.2 million marriages take place in the United States annually. That breaks down to more than 6,000 a day. 112,185 marriages were performed in Nevada during 2008. So many couples “tie the knot” in the Silver State that it ranked fourth nationally in marriages, even though it’s total population that year among states was 35th. The estimated U.S. median ages at first marriage for women and men are 25.9 and 27.6 respectively, in 2008. The age for women rose 4.2 years in the last three decades. The age for men at first marriage is up 3.6 years. Men and women in northeastern states generally have a higher median age at first marriage than the national average. In Massachusetts, for example, women were a median of 27.4 years old and men 29.1 years of age at first marriage. States where people typically marry young include Utah, where women were a median of 21.9 years and men, 23.9 years. 57% and 60% of American women and men, respectively, are 15 or older and currently married (includes those who are separated). 70%: The percentage of men and women ages 30 to 34 in 2008 who had been married at some point in their lives – either currently or formerly. 4.9 million opposite-sex cohabitating couples maintained households in 2005. These couples comprised 4.3 percent of all households. Candy is Dandy 1,241: The number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2004. These establishments employed 43,322 people. California led the nation in the number of such establishments with 136, followed by Pennsylvania with 122. (Source:http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html) 515 locations produced nonchocolate confectionary products in 2004. These establishments employed 22,234 people. The total value of shipments in 2004 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa products was $13.9 billion. Nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was a $5.7 billion industry. 3,467 Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2004. Often referred to as candy stores, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine’s Day. The per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2005 was 25.7 pounds. Candy consumption has actually declined over the last few years; in 1997, each American gobbled or savored more than 27 pounds of candy a year. Flowers The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2005 for all flower-producing operations with $100,000 or more in sales was $397 million. Among states, California was the leading producer, alone accounting for nearly three-quarters of this amount ($289 million). The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2005 for all operations with $100,000 or more in sales was $39 million. Among all types of cut flowers, roses were third in receipts ($39 million)to lilies ($76.9 million) and tulips ($39.1 million). There were 21,667 florists nationwide in 2004. These businesses employed 109,915 people. Jewelry There were 28,772 jewelry stores in the United States in 2004. Jewelry stores offer engagement, wedding and other rings to lovers of all ages. In February 2006, these stores sold $2.6 billion worth of merchandise. (This figure has not been adjusted for seasonal variation, holiday or trading day differences or price changes). The merchandise at these locations could well have been produced at one of the nation’s 1,864 jewelry manufacturing establishments. The manufacture of jewelry was an $9 billion industry in 2004. http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/valentines-day-facts 41 Delicious Facts About Chocolate That You Probably Didn’t Know Fact: It’s delicious. James Grebey BuzzFeed Staff 1. There is a correlation between the amount of chocolate a country consumes on average and the number of Nobel Laureates that country has produced. 2. A jewel thief made off with $28 million dollars of gems in 2007 because he was able to gain the trust of the guards working the bank in Antwerp, Belgium, by repeatedly offering them chocolate. 3. The blood in Psycho’s famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup. 4. At one point the Nazis plotted to assassinate Winston Churchill with an exploding bar of chocolate. 5. The scientific name for the tree that chocolate comes from, Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods.” 6. It takes a almost a full year for a cocoa tree to produce enough pods to make 10 standard-sized Hershey bars. 7. Chocolate has over 600 flavor compounds, while red wine has just 200. 8. Theobromine, the compound in chocolate that makes it poisonous to dogs, can kill a human as well. You’d have to be a real glutton to go out this way though, as an average 10-year-old child would have to eat 1,900 Hershey’s miniature milk chocolates to reach a fatal dose. 9. The ancient Maya are believed to be the first people to regularly grow cacao trees and drink chocolate. The Aztecs got it later, but they had to trade for cacao because they couldn’t grow the trees. 10. The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word “xocoatl,” which referred to the bitter, spicy drink the Aztecs made from cacao beans. 11. In fact, chocolate was consumed as a liquid, not a solid, for 90% of its history. 12. When the Aztec empire ruled most of Mesoamerica, chocolate was still widely consumed, and cacao seeds were a form of currency. 13. The Aztec emperor Montezuma II drank more than 50 cups of chocolate every day. 14. A wide range of substances have been ground up and mixed with chocolate, including, in the pre-Columbia era, possible dinosaur fossils. 15. During the Revolutionary War, soldiers were sometimes paid in chocolate. 16. It’s believed that people who are allergic to chocolate are actually allergic to cockroaches, as around eight insect parts are typically found in a bar of chocolate, according to the Food and Drug Administration. 17. Chocolate gives you a more intense mental high and gets your heart pounding more than kissing does. 18. Hershey’s Kisses got their name from the kissing sound the machine that deposits the chocolate on the conveyor belt makes. 19. Hershey’s makes 70 million Kisses every day, and enough annually to make a 300,000-mile-long line of Kisses. 20. The inventor of the chocolate chip cookie, Ruth Wakefield, sold her cookie recipe to Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. 21. Ben & Jerry’s made the first cookie dough ice cream after receiving an anonymous suggestion on their flavor suggestion board in its Burlington, Vermont, shop. 22. There is a rare fourth kind of chocolate in addition to the classic milk, dark, and white varieties: blond chocolate. 23. The film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was financed by Quaker Oats to promote its new Wonka Bar candy. This is also why the film is called “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” instead of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” like the book it’s based on. 24. The first chocolate bar was invented in 1847 by Joseph Fry. 25. The chocolate industry is worth approximately $110 billion per year. 26. Milky Way candy bars are not named after the galaxy. The name came from the malted milkshakes whose flavor they originally intended to mimic. 27. Three Musketeers bars were originally three pieces to a package, in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors. They switched to just the one chocolate bar after the price of strawberries increased. 28. In 1947 hundreds of Canadian kids went on strike and boycotted chocolate after the price of a chocolate bar jumped from 5 to 8 cents. 29. Andes Candies were originally called “Andy’s Candys,” after creator George Andrew Kanelos, but he changed the name after he realized men didn’t want to buy their wives or girlfriends chocolates with another man’s name on them. 30. The largest chocolate bar ever weighed just over 12,770 pounds. 31. The most valuable chocolate bar in the world is a 100-year-old Cadbury’s chocolate bar that was brought along on Captain Robert Scott’s first Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic. It sold for $687 at auction in 2001. 32. Chocolate milk was invented in Jamaica. Irish botanist Sir Hans Sloane is usually given credit for mixing chocolate with milk when he was in Jamaica in the early 1700s, though it’s likely he wasn’t the first person on the island to do so. 33. Chocolate milk is an effective post-workout recovery drink. 34. German chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany. It’s named after its inventor, Sam German. 35. There is a little caffeine in chocolate. Most bars have about 10 milligrams of caffeine in them, but darker chocolates can have as much caffeine as a can of Coca-Cola. 36. A 2013 study found that the scent of chocol37. A 2004 study in London found that 70% of people would reveal their passwords in exchange for a chocolate bar. 38. Americans buy more than 58 million pounds of chocolate on Valentine’s Day every year, making up 5% of sales for the entire year. 39. The Brussels Airport is the biggest chocolate seller in the world, as vendors there sell more than 800 tons of chocolate every year. 40. More than two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is grown in Africa, and Côte d’Ivoire alone produces 33% of the world’s supply. 41. White chocolate technically isn’t chocolate, but you probably already knew that. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesgrebey/delicious-facts-about-chocolate#.dhNOrrVOE
0 Comments
|
AuthorI am a Life Coach, a Color Wisdom Card Practitioner, and yes, even a Professor (political science, State University of New York at Albany). I use the Color Wisdom Cards to support clients in exploring priorities and taking concrete actions to stay on track with the goals they set. Because in my own life I have overcome a lot of self-doubt, I want to work with people towards more confidence and self-empowerment. You can do it! What is it you want to do? Categories
All
Archives
June 2021
|