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The Honolulu Advertiser
Valentine's Day a labor of love | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper
Posted on: Tuesday, February 14, 2006

ISLAND LIFE SHORTS
 Valentine's Day a labor of love

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Every year, Americans send out 192 million cards for Valentine's Day — only Christmas spurs more card-giving, according to Hallmark. Here are more Feb. 14 facts, from the U.S. Census Bureau:

  • Nearly 60 percent of cards are bought during the week before Feb. 14 — procrastinators love, too.

  • Origin of Valentine's Day? Theory No. 1: Commemoration of the death of Roman clergyman St. Valentine, who was executed on Feb. 14, around 270 A.D., for marrying couples in defiance of the emperor. Theory No. 2: Roman fertility festival.

  • Americans started exchanging handmade Valentine's Day cards in the early 1700s. Esther Howland of Massachusetts sold the first mass-produced V-day cards in the 1840s.

    — Catherine E. Toth



    HEART ART

    Head for Bishop and King streets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today to see Nate Chung's sign-waving installation "Downtown Love." The artist has gathered a tribe (including Sen. Norman Sakamoto and Rep. Corinne Ching) to hold signs saying things like "You're great!" Feel the love!

    — Advertiser staff



    FINAL WORD

    "Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only what you are expecting to give."

    Katharine Hepburn

    Correction: Rep. Corinne Ching's name was misspelled in an previous version of an Island Life short.

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