Valentine's Day history, cards, and customs.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
What complicated Margery Brews's romance in her 1477 Valentine's Day letter?
Brews called John Paston III her 'right well-beloved Valentine'; after their families settled terms, the couple married.
Which sitcom inspired "Galentine's Day" as a celebration of friendship?
Leslie Knope hosts her friends on February 13, the day before Valentine's Day, in the show's original Galentine's Day episode.
Which U.S. tradition did the National Postal Museum exclude from a 2019 valentine card estimate?
The 145-million-card estimate omitted classroom swaps, showing how children broaden the holiday beyond romantic couples.
Which 1840 reform helped turn mailed valentines into a British mass custom?
Cheap postage drove such heavy valentine traffic that Britain's Post Office later urged people to mail cards early.
Which company used the 1947 slogan "A Diamond Is Forever" to shape engagement-ring expectations?
Copywriter Mary Frances Gerety wrote the slogan, which helped make diamond rings a standard symbol of marital commitment.
In the Victorian language of flowers, what did a rose signify?
Victorian floral dictionaries helped people assemble bouquets that conveyed feelings without stating them publicly.
Which exchange traditionally starts Valentine's Day gift-giving in Japan?
Men traditionally return gifts on White Day, March 14, adding a separate day of reciprocity.
Which shape did early conversation candies use to hold paper messages inside?
Like fortune cookies, the shell-shaped sweets tucked colored-paper messages inside before direct printing arrived.
Which entrepreneur became the "Mother of the American Valentine" after building a card business in Worcester?
Howland's New England Valentine Company became the first major U.S. commercial producer of valentines.
Which Korean observance follows Valentine's Day one month later with reciprocal gifts?
White Day began in Japan in the late 1970s and spread to South Korea as a commercially promoted gift-giving follow-up.