Self-gifting soars, with half of U.S. adults single — and many others refusing to settle for dud presents.

Self-gifting is on the rise as consumers enjoy the empowerment of treating themselves. ’I’ve been doing more solo dating.’

More Americans are unattached these days and that is turning out to be a good thing for retailers

With February 14 fast approaching, many loved-up couples are hastily planning dinners, buying gifts and setting up dating partners. But, in some parts of the world, Valentine's Day is more than handing your partner a bouquet of flowers or serenading them with poetry - it involves some intense and rather bizarre practices in declaring your love.

Elizabeth Nelson, an associate professor of history at University of Nevada Las Vegas, has examined the "hidden history of Valentine’s Day." Beyond the pressures of consumer culture, or any outsized emphasis on romantic love, she says there's been a yearning for something more sincere "from the very beginning."

Valentine's Day falls on February 14—a day when lovers show their appreciation for each other, through romantic poems, letters, cards, chocolates, roses, or other gifts.

It was Valentine’s Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth — a fourth grader — seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card.

It was Valentine’s Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth — a fourth grader — seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card.