Every Feb. 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.

“Valentine’s Day is the day I can thank all of my friends on Facebook and Twitter for suddenly becoming crazy cheesy romantics,” said Matt Schuetz, 9.

Some people choose to celebrate this holiday alone, while others have a significant other.

Average annual Valentine’s Day spending: $13.9 billion
Number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually: 180 million
Percent of consumers who celebrate Valentine’s Day: 61.8 percent
Percent of women who would end their relationship if they did not get something for Valentines Day: 53 percent

“Valentine’s Day isn’t only a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-faces. The origins of this holiday are actually dark and bloody,” said Chloe Bradley, 9.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the third century A.D.

The Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day honored their martyrdom.

By the middle of the 18th century, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.

“I love seeing Feb. 14 on the calendar. It reminds me of pounds of chocolates I’ve gleefully consumed or stacks of red cards I’ve swooned over and tucked safely away every year,” said Caroline Veraldo, 9.

Esther Howland, the woman who produced the first commercial American valentines in the 1840s, sold a then mind-boggling $5,000 in cards during her first year of business.

Today, people celebrate their love to one another by buying each other gifts like these:
Candy: 47.5 percent
Flowers: 34.3 percent
Cards: 52.1 percent
Jewelry: 17.3 percent
Dining: 34.6 percent
Clothing: 14.4 percent
Gift Cards: 12.6 percent
Other Gifts: 11.2 percent

“Happy phony, romanticized, overly commercial, sucks to be single, pretend that its love, day!” said Isabelle Jimenez, 9.