A
X)7
rhc Blue Banner — Sening the I'ni\crsiu of Noith ("arolimi at Ashc\ illc since 19S2 Thursday, February 7. 2(
Consumerism does not diminish Valentine’s day
By Maggie West ^
lamel
pan I
ook.f
uca-l
And I
Staff Writer
Many college students find
Valentine’s Day to be more com
mercialized than any other holi
day, according to a recent CNN
survey. The survey, which polled
250 students at Boston University,
reveals a growing contempt for
both the holiday and the gift-giv
ing associated with it.
“I really think that Valentine’s
Day was just created by the greet
ing card industry to sell more
cards,” said Lauren Habenicht,
Junior music student.
Many UNC Asheville students
express negative opinions about
Valentine’s Day and the commer
cialism surrounding it.
“It seems like over the last 20
years Valentine’s Day has just
turned into a completely superfi
cial tradition,” said Nikki Nelson,
a recent UNC Asheville graduate.
“It’s all about buying candy and
flowers.”
The average American consumer
is expected to spend $119.67 on
Valentine’s Day this year, up from
2006’s national average of
$100.89, according to the National
Retail Federation. Despite this
increase, some local residents say
they aie abstaining from buying or
receiving any gifts.
“I think the whole idea of giving
gifts is kind of ridiculous,” said
Melissa Chapman, senior literature
major.
According to Chapman, she and
husband Nick think it unnecessary
to exchange gifts with one another.
Instead, the couple prefers to
spend time together on the holiday.
While some people may abstain
from gift giving, the NRF esti
mates that consumers will spend
over $16.9 billion on Valentine’s
Day this year. Of the men polled
in the study, 42.9 percent said they
plan on buying their significant
other some Idnd of candy.
“It’s a traditional chocolate holi
day,” said Asheley Holms, a man
ager of Oh Chocolat!.
According to the Charlotte
native, who has been with the store
since it opened over a year ago, the
holiday is their biggest sales day of
the year.
W^en asked about the material
istic values surrounding the holi
day, Holms said the store would do
well even if Valentine’s Day was
not such a commercial holiday.
u
fn^tvnplTnf fl^****™^ *'”T^H* Kabloom, prepares a special Valentine’s day bouquet. Some arrangements can cost shoppers up to a couple hundred d()llars^dependlng on th'^dl^^^^^^
ent types of flowers involved and number of stems used. Valentine’s Day is one of Kabloom’s busiest of the year. ^ ^
After all, women do love mercialism of the holiday, they all
chocolate,” she said.
In a related survey, the NRF
found that flower sales are expect
ed to grow this year. Over 58 per
cent of men questioned said that
they were planning to buy flowers
as gifts, up from 52.3 percent last
year.
Valentine’s Day is the biggest
sales holiday, according to Jen
Stellar, manager at Kabloom
flower shop.
Many Asheville residents choose
to get their significant others
unique floral arrangements rather
than traditional red roses, accord
ing to the florist.
“I think it’s really nice when
people pick out something special
It doesn’t matter if it’s 1907
or 2007 - Valentine’s day will
always be about buying stuff.
Lauren Habenicht
Junior music student
for their girlfriends,” Stellar said.
“For example, if someone picks
out a bouquet of flowers in some
one’s favorite color.”
Although several Kabloom
employees acknowledge the com-
agree the tradition of giving flow
ers should be upheld.
“I think that no matter how
detached and commercialized
Valentine’s Day has become, flow
ers are still a natural expression of
love and beauty,” said Eleanor
Underhill, sales associate at the
shop.
While many people say the com
mercialism associated with the
holiday is a relatively new devel
opment a quick look at its history
proves otherwise.
The first mass-produced valen
tines were made in 1847 by Esther
Howland of Worcester,
xMassachusetts. The daughter of a
stationary store owner, Howland
made the cards out of embossed
paper lace. Since 2001, the
Greeting Card Association gives
an annual “Esther Howland
Award” in her honor.
Shortly after the invention of the
valentine, chocolate became
another favorite gift of the holiday.
A mere seven years after Richard
Cadbury invented the first heart
.shaped candy box in 1861, the
boxes were mass produced and
marketed as a Valentine’s Day
gifts.
The first conversational heart
candies were produced in 1900,
according to the New England
Confectionary Company. Unlike
the company’s current candy,
which features pastel hearts with
sayings like “Be Mine” and
“Kiss Me,” the original candies
were cut into bigger shapes like
baseballs and horseshoes. Due
to their increased size, the origi
nal candies were able to hold
much longer sayings such as
“Please send me a lock of your
hair by return mail” or “How
long shall 1 have to wait? Pray
be considerate.”
Despite the changing gift giving
traditions, many Asheville resi
dents maintain that Valentine’s
Day was and always will be a
commercial holiday.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s 1907 or
2007,” Habenicht said.
“Valentine’s Day will always be
about buying stuff.”
Uniquely Asheville ideas for
celebrating Valentine’s Day
Love/-fvndiff ct/ home/ on/ campus
By Hannah Doyle
Staff Writer
By Hannah Doyle
Fingertips sticky from choco
lates, wallets collapsed from
splurging, teeth sugar-caked from
chalky candies—such are the
effects of Valentine’s day. But for
those dissatisfied with traditional
Valentine’s celebrations or gifts,
, Asheville offers an array of events
this season for both couples and
singles.
A dating game, “Singled .Out,”
will attempt to create new matches
Friday at 7 p.m. in the Highsmith
Grotto. MTV’s popular ‘90s game
show ‘Singled Out’ featured a
group of 50 men and a group of 50
women competing for a date with
a main contestant of the opposite
sex.
Students may attend UNC
Asheville’s Valentine’s dance
Saturday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. in
the Alumni Hall. The Blue Echo
will provide free food and music
for attendees.
Also Saturday, the Black
Mountain Center for the Arts
will also host a Valentine’s
dance, ‘All You Need Is Love,’
from 7 to 11 p.m. Musician Jeff
Stone will play such genres as
Motown, Big Band and rock.
The cover charge is $15 per per
son and benefits the center’s
fundraising. A cash bar with
wine, beer, soda and snacks will
be available. For more informa
tion, call (828) 669-0930.
For a creative approach to the
holiday, Jennifer Brook will hold a
two-day workshop. Love Letters:
Re-inventing the Valentine, on
Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Attendees create their
own cards and love letters. The
workshop costs $135 plus a fee for
materials. If interested, sign up at
www.ashevillebookworks.com or
call (828) 255-8444.
Chocolate Fetish allows anyone
with a sweet tooth to sample its
award-winning, handmade choco-
Shanna Arney - staff Photographer
A small sampling of the smorgas
bord of chocolate at Oh Chocolat!
lates. For the past eight years, vot
ers named the chocolate the Best
in Western North Carolina. Oh
Chocolat! offers European choco
lates and boasts an extensive col
lection of Belgian Neuhaus pra
lines and truffles.
On Valentine’s day. Wild Wing
Cafe will host a Speed Dating
Singles Mingle.
Greenlife Grocery offers cook
ing classes Saturday from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Instructor Danielle
Creeksong teaches participants to
make such treats as miniature
cream puffs and lavender truffles.
The class fee is $125 and includes
lunch from the salad bar at
Greenlife. Call (828) 318-2937 for
more information.
On Eeb. 17 Heath Miles, chef
and owner of Amici Trattoria
Restaurant, will offer Italian cook
ing and wine-pairing classes. Each
session covers a different winery
and region of Italy. The class fee is
$40, but the package of four class
es is $140. Call (828) 277-1010 for
more information.
Visits to the Biltmore estate are
$25 per adult from now until Eeb.
28 during its value season.
Couples or singles can peruse the
gardens, winery, farm village,
shops, restaurants and 250-room
house. Call (800) 624-1575 for
further details.
In the lobby of Mills Hall,
Karen Moriarty, sophomore
drama student, and on-duty night
assistant, revealed to freshman
Sheila Steelman what she planned
on getting her boyfriend of three
months, freshman Chip Davis, for
Valentine’s Day.
“There’S' a picture of us at a
cocktail party that we both really
like,” Moriarty said. “He told me
it was his favorite, so I figured he
needed it framed. I got a simple,
black, rounded frame, and I’m
painting ‘Can I keep you?’ on the
bottom.”
Minutes later, Davis dropped by
to visit Moriarty. Steelman told
him his girlfriend’s present for
him was so sweet so Davis pulled
Steelman aside to reveal his own
plans. ^
“I got Karen Post-It notes that
have our picture on them and
say, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,
Karen.’ They’re pretty cute,”
Davis said. “She’s in love with
Post-Its, and she loves that pic
ture of us. We were at a cocktail
party, both dressed up and look
ing nice.”
Realizing the couple bought
each other scarily similar pres
ents, Steelman burst into her dorm
room and excitedly relayed the
story to her suitemate, freshman
Alyssa Teat.
“I thought it was adorable,”
Steelman said. They’re so ridicu
lously cute together.”
Davis and Moriarty could hard
ly contain their excitement either.
Though they did not plan on
exchanging gifts until Valentine’s
Day, the two told each other what
their presents would be nearly two
weeks early.
“We couldn’t really wait until
Valentine’s Day,” Davis said.
“She saw my present to her on the
Web site where I designed them.
She was speechless. It took her a
i6
If it's not a year-round
occasion then its just
reduced to a Hallmark
card and a box of choco
lates you get at a drug
store.
Chip Davis
freshman .student
Mfxjan Wildman - .Staff PiKrrcxiRAPHER
Chip Davis, 18 and Karen Moriarty, 20, know how to make each other
happy. They are so in sync they bought nearly identical Valentine gifts.
little while to say anything, so she
really liked them.”
As far as celebrating the roman
tic holiday, the couple plans on
attending UNC Asheville’s
Valentine’s dance.
Steelman and Davis have
maintained a friendship since
preschool, and Steelman said
she’s glad that Moriarty and
Davis have such a stable rela
tionship.
“They never fight. All the
other couples here fight because
everybody sees each other all
the time, but somehow they
maintain a very optimistic out
look on their relationship,”
Steelman said. “She even helps
him do his laundry.”
Whether a couple actually cel
ebrates the holiday on
Valentine’s Day is of no signifi
cance, as long as they do some
thing special for each other,
according to Davis.
“Valentine’s Day is a very cor
porate holiday. 1 spent money on
Karen’s gift, but the whole idea
was for us to make each other
truly happy,” Davis said. “When
it’s done in that spirit, then it’s
really a holiday. If it’s not per
sonal, then it’s meaningless.”
Davis said that some people
lose sight of the true importance
of Valentine’s Day.
“If you think about it, you’re
only picking one day out of the
entire year to appreciate that
person. Instead, it should be a
day-to-day thing,” Davis said.
“If it’s not a year-round occa
sion, then it’s just reduced to a
Hallmark card and a box of
chocolates you get at a drug
store.”