CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
Minute Plus
California & Valentine’s Day
02-14-12
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
Expressing one's love to another is a celebrated custom on Valentine's Day;
whereby sweethearts and family members present gifts to one another, such
as cards, candy, flowers and other symbols of affection. Opinions differ as
to who was the original Valentine, but the most popular theory is that he
was a clergyman who was executed for secretly marrying couples in ancient
Rome. In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius the First declared Feb. 14 as Valentine Day.
However, Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, is given credit for
selling the first mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. The spirit
continues today with even young children exchanging valentine's cards with
their fellow classmates.
California owns this day, as California leads the nation in the number of
chocolate and cocoa manufacturing establishments, with 135, followed by
Pennsylvania, with 111. Additionally, California leads the nation with 45
establishments of non-chocolate confectionary products in 2009. And when
it comes to flowers, California is the leading producer, alone accounting
for more than three-quarters ($286 million) of the total amount of cut
flowers ($375 million).
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
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