Happy Valentine's Day 2009

Valentines Day in present times has become a huge craze especially amongst the youth in countries around the world. Those in love start planning for the Valentine's Day celebrations with sweetheart days before the festival while those without a lover start looking for a date so that they are able to celebrate the day in the much-romanticized manner. Hype for the festival is further built up by the media and the rigorous advertising campaign run by the cards and gifts markete

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend in average twice as much money as women.

Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary." The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

Big hype and euphoria for the Valentine's Day festival has made the occasion a multi-million dollar industry. The festival has turned out to be the biggest card-selling holiday after Christmas in US as youngsters prefer to buy not just one but several cards for their sweetheart and also for their parents, teachers, siblings, friends and other loved ones. Of course the festival is not just restricted to cards in the present consumerist society. People also buy loads of chocolates that come in Valentine's Day special romantic packing besides big bouquets of flowers, in spite of the fact that prices of flowers sky rocket on Valentine's Day because of the huge demand. Other popular Valentine's Day gifts include shirts, wallets and perfumes for men and jewelry, jewelry boxes, stuffed toys and romantic show pieces for women.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire. A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together -- but not too closely!

While most people go out of their way to celebrate the day of love and romance, there are many that are very much against the festival. Some feel there is no reason to celebrate love on one particular day as love is to be cherished on all days of the year. People are also very much against the excessive commercialization of the festival. In several countries such as India, womenfolk experience the trauma of eve teasing on the day. Several societies are very much against the festival as they feel it is the ploy by multinationals to impose western cultures on conservative eastern world.

Euphoria for Valentine's Day can be felt days before the festival when the market places start exuding the spirit of the romantic festival. Shops selling cards, flowers and other romantic gifts can be seen decked with Valentine's Day symbols of hearts, cards, rose and cupid. In modern times, jewelers too, try to lure lovers with attractive schemes and bold displays of innovate and eye-catching jewelry. Florists, who get their best business in this time of the year, lure customers with big and beautiful bouquets of exotic flowers.

The most popular way of celebrating Valentine's Day is to go for a romantic date with sweetheart. One can find parks and restaurants thronged by lovers holding hands and expressing love. Valentine's Day special parties are also organized by hotels and discotheques to give the lovers an opportunity to celebrate. These days, romantic getaways are turning out to be extremely popular way of celebrating Valentine's Day.
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