Valentine's Day

Love is truly in the air this week! Tomorrow is the day we truly show how much we love and care for our better halves. That or how bad our memory is and subsequently, how uncomfortable the sofa is to sleep on. Either way, Valentine’s Day is always one to look forward to. A global day of the recognition of love in all its forms, celebrated all over the world.

 

Valentine’s is another in a line of modernised traditions from centuries ago. It can be traced back to Roman times when men would sacrifice goats and dogs and smack the women about all in the name of fertility. That’s real love. Nowadays, as we know things are a bit more civilised. Now the blokes are the ones who get a slap when they get home from work on the night of the 14^th, lacking a card or a bouquet!

 

The Pope saw to it that this pagan ritual was chucked and declared the 14^th of February as St. Valentine’s Day. A feast day. Maybe why we might take our loved ones out for a meal? It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that it was linked to romance and lovers would meet in secret, recite poetry at each other and generally flirt about a bit.

 

The modern Valentine’s card was actually a British invention, coming from a publication called “The Young Man’s Valentine Writer”. A book of proses and verses, specifically written to tell someone how much they were loved by the romantically challenged. Printers put some of these verses on small cards and voila! Valentine’s Cards! The idea quickly spread to America and from there it boomed.

 

Cadbury’s, another British institution, were the first company to create the iconic heart shaped chocolate box in 1868. Once again we’re ahead of the curve! They called it the fancy box, plenty of filled chocolates. I had better talk about something else, my mouth is watering! Weirdly enough, people only started giving each other more exquisite gifts like jewellery in the second half of the last century!

 

Despite Britain leading the way when it comes to the introducing of gifting in many of its forms, it may surprise you to know that less than half of the UK actually spends money on their Valentine. But, the country still runs up a massive bill of over £1 billion just on gifts alone. Chocolates aplenty! In 2015, around 2/3 of Valentine’s celebrating Britons took their partner out for a meal and spent upwards of £50, with many looking to sites like Groupon and Itison to take advantage of any deals they may have to soften the financial blow of a 3 course steak dinner!

 

Not to be outdone, in North America, spending this year is estimated to be a staggering $27.4 billion. NRF.com broke down the spending and found that only $17 billion of that is on their partner! With the rest of it being spent on family members, friends and even pets. Fair enough, my dogs get spoilt more than my family! That number has been rising year by year. Only just last year it was around $20.7 billion!

 

 

You can still check out our full range of products via the link below and find something nice for your beloved! We’ve got plenty in stock, truly something for everyone. After our brilliant trip down to Birmingham for the trade fair we’ll have plenty new goodies in store and online in the coming months!

 

Whatever way you choose to spend Valentine’s Day, plucking up the courage to pop a card through their door and tell them how you feel, a romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant, a pizza and a cuddle on the sofa, drinks and a night in with your PALentine, or if you’re just curled up with the dog, have a great night. Much love, from all of us at Kilts Wi Hae.