Loveland vs. America's Other "Cupid Towns"
Loveland isn't the only town with a name built for Valentine's Day — it's just the one that turned it into an institution.
The U.S. Postal Service has identified more than 30 post offices with Valentine's-appropriate names that offer some kind of special cancellation each February. Almost none of them operate at Loveland's scale. Here's how a few of the best-known compare.
| Town | Program | Approx. annual volume |
|---|---|---|
| Loveland, Colorado | Valentine Re-Mailing Program, hand-cancelled with an original annual cachet | 120,000+ |
| Valentine, Nebraska | The "Cachet Program," running since the 1960s | ~5,000 |
| Romeo, Michigan | Pictorial Valentine's cancellation | Small, local volume |
| Bliss, New York | Pictorial Valentine's cancellation | Small, local volume |
Why Loveland pulled ahead
Scale compounds. Loveland had an organized Chamber of Commerce behind it from the start, a dedicated volunteer base, national media attention over decades, and more than 80 consecutive years of doing it without interruption. Smaller towns with equally good names never built the same institutional muscle around theirs.
Does it matter which one you use?
If the postmark itself is the point, Loveland's cachet — a genuine piece of original community artwork, refreshed annually — is hard to match. If you're after something quirkier or more niche, Valentine, Nebraska's cachet has its own long, charming history worth reading about in its own right.
Sources: VERIFY / WCNC, Nebraska State Historical Society.