Gift Giving Guy

The pink wedge in Trivial Pursuit traditionally stood for the entertainment category. For this post, I’ll stray from the Genus I game edition and offer pink wedges for Valentine’s Day trivia I didn’t know. Or maybe I should dish out the pink candy hearts, given the first factoid.

1. Confectioner NECCO sells eight billion candy conversation hearts for Valentine’s Day. In 2008, the newest sayings are weather-themed, including MELT MY HEART, CLOUD NINE and HEAT WAVE.
2. The National Retail Federation estimates Americans spent $16.9 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2007. Excluding back-to-school shopping, Valentine’s Day ranks second in holiday spending. Of course, “winter holidays” (Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa) place first with $438.6 billion in spending. After Cupid comes Mother’s Day ($13.8 billion), Easter ($12.63 billion) and Father’s Day ($9.01 billion).
3. The Roman Catholic Church revised the liturgical calendar in 1969, eliminating St. Valentine’s Day as a saint’s feast day.
4. We exchange about 190 million Valentine’s Day cards in America, a distant second to Christmas cards (2.2 billion are sent). On the 2008 season premiere of the game show 1 vs. 100, 21-year-old Jason Luna scored the first ever $1 million prize when he answered this factoid correctly.