Americans have a bizarre tendency to send Valentine cards to everyone they know (at least they did where we lived), and you could even purchase Valentine cards to send to your dog and cat.
The firm I work for does cards 'from the dog' and 'from the cat' and also 'to mummy' and 'to daddy' (yes, these ARE Valentines cards). There are also loads with husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, fiancee, etc.
I thought the whole point of Valentines cards were that they were anonymous.
Yes, my local Wal-Mart in Missouri is full of tacky Valentine candy and cookies, and tomorrow it'll be full of tacky Valentine candy and cookies at half price which is when I'll be off to make a purchase.
In Japan it's the girls who give chocolates to the men especially their bosses. Invented 40 years ago by a major chocolate manufacturer.( I read this on the BBC News site today)