Valentine’s Day: February 14

By the U.S. Census Bureau

One legend has it that Valentine’s Day originated to commemorate the anniversary of the death of St. Valentine, a Roman clergyman who was executed on Feb. 14, about 270 A.D., for secretly marrying couples in defiance of the emperor. According to another, the holiday began as a Roman fertility festival. Americans probably began exchanging handmade valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, began to sell the nation’s first mass-produced valentine cards.

Young and Looking for Love
118
Number of 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: 159 men per 100 women
          Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 117 men per 100 women
          Blacks (single race): 89 men per 100 women
          Asians (single race): 129 men per 100 women
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2003.html>

Young at Heart and Looking for Love
33
Number of single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) age 65 and over for every
100 single women of the same ages. Corresponding numbers for the following race and ethnic groups are:
          Hispanics: 37 men per 100 women
          Non-Hispanic whites (single race): 33 men per 100 women
          Blacks (single race): 34 men per 100 women
          Asians (single race): 30 men per 100 women
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2003.html>

Try Looking Here . . .
Below are names of some romantic-sounding places:

<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DEC&_lang=en>

Be Mine
2.2 million
Number of marriages that take place in the United States annually. That breaks down to about 6,000 a day. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/>

138,600
The number of marriages performed in Nevada during 2003. So many couples “tie the knot” in the Silver State that it ranked fourth nationally in marriages, even though its total population that year was 35th. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr52/nvsr52_22.pdf>
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001624.html>

25.3 and 27.1
The estimated U.S. median ages at first marriage for women and men, respectively, in 2003. The age for women is up 4.3 years in the last three decades. The age for men is up 3.9 years. <http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-2.pdf>

The proportion of women 20 to 24 years old who had never married more than doubled between 1970 and 2003 — from 36 percent to 75 percent. Changes were also dramatic for men — the corresponding rate for men in this age group increased from 55 percent to 86 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html>

54% and 57%
The percentages of American women and men, respectively, who are 15 and over and currently married. <http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-1.pdf>

4.6 milllion
Number of cohabitating couples who maintained households in 2003. These couples comprised 4.2 percent of all households, up from 2.9 percent in 1996.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html>

Candy is Dandy
1,006
Number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2002. These establishments employed 42,538 people. California led the nation in the number of such establishments (with 114) followed by Pennsylvania (with 100). <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>

619
Number of locations that produced nonchocolate confectionary products in 2002. These establishments employed 24,284 people. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>

3,782
Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2002. Often referred to as candy stores, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine’s Day. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>

24.6 pounds
Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2003; it is believed a large portion is consumed around Valentine’s Day. 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. <http://www.census.gov/industry/1/ma311d03.pdf>

Flowers
$425 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2003 for all operations in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales. Among states, California was the leading producer, alone accounting for nearly three-quarters of this amount ($306 million). <http://www.usda.gov/nass/>

$52 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2003 for all operations in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales. Among all types of cut flowers, roses were second in receipts to lilies ($70 million). <http://www.usda.gov/nass/>

23,094
The number of florists nationwide in 2002. These businesses employed 119,117 people. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>

Jewelry
28,914
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2002. Jewelry stores offer engagement, wedding and other rings to lovers of all ages. In February 2004, these stores sold $2.4 billion worth of merchandise — a much higher total than in the preceding month or succeeding months. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html> <http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html>

The merchandise at these locations could well have been produced at one of the nation’s 1,892 jewelry manufacturing establishments. The manufacture of jewelry was an $8.3 billion industry in 2002. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html> (Advance data from Annual Survey of Manufactures, Statistics for Industry Groups and Industries: 2002.)