The Heartland of Romance

LOVELAND, Colo. — This northern Colorado town, which residents call the Valentine Capital of the World, is as good a place as any to check on the state of romance on Valentine’s Day, 1985.

Florists were busy cutting bows, clearing out coolers, and repairing tiny paper hearts for the thousands of bouquets they expect to sell on Valentine’s Day--the single busiest sales day of the year.

Loveland Postmaster Burt Speyer is working through an avalanche of valentines that he has to mail back out with a special Loveland postmark.

Last year the post office handled about 314,776 valentines. Each is stamped with a Valentine’s Day poem in the lower left-hand corner, and the postmark reads, “Romantic Loveland sends Valentine greetings for all.”

‘Can You Believe It?’

Grace Rowe of Rowe’s Florists has been in the business 25 years, and she has seen the price of a dozen roses go from $5 in 1960 to $40 at most shops this year.

“Can you believe it! But we’re getting better roses now, we think, for keepability and fragrance,” she said.

Rowe said she gets more business during the week of Mother’s Day, but Valentine’s Day usually sets a record for sales in a 24-hour period.

“We’ve been preparing for four weeks,” she said.

As to whether romance is flowering in Loveland, Rowe is not so sure.

“I do a lot of weddings,” she said. “But I’ve had some brides three times so I don’t know if that’s romance or not.”