Valentine's Day Past and Present

 

Larry's Toys, Copyright Lyn Fenwick

I often make special cards as gifts for my husband.  (Aplogies for the dark image.  It was taken through the glass of the framed image and is darker that the actual drawing.)  This particular gift for him has many childhood memories included in a single colored-pencil drawing. including several of his toys, wooden blocks with his initials displayed, his childhood cowboy boots, marbles, the rug his mother bought on a family trip, and his grandfather's three-drawer chest.  But in the center of the drawing is a Valentine card with a cowboy, given to him by a classmate at a grade school valentine exchange.

I do not remember if this art was a gift for him on Valentine's Day, but with the valentine in the middle of the drawing, perhaps it was.  If so, the drawing on paper would be a traditional gift, for in the 1700s, gifting handwritten notes and letters on Valentine's Day on paper began.  Beautiful penmanship in that era was highly regarded, for both men and women.

A student at Mount Holyoke College, whose father was a stationer, is credited with introducing Valentine cards in the United States.  Cards had become popular in England, and when the girl received an English Valentine card, she got the idea of making cards to sell in her father's stationary shop, where they became very popular.

By Mid-1850 manufacturers were making Valentine cards.  The New York Times criticized the growing tradition, saying, "The custom has no useful feature, and the sooner it is abolished the better."  Less than a decade later Valentine cards had boomed, noticeably after the Civil War.

The tradition has continued to thrive, so much so that it is a significant revenue source not just for florists and restaurants, as well as chocolatiers, but also Perfume & Lotion shops, and lingerie stores.  Other merchants have also recognized the Valentine market with such items as a waffle iron shaped like a heart, and kitchen pots and pans in red enamel.  

Ladies should not forget the gentlemen in their lives, for there are gifts now particularly for men.  Wine, and accessories for wine are favored, as well as games and men's socks.  In that category, there are also Valentine Slippers for both men and women.

My husband and I do not overlook Valentine's Day, but long ago we gave up the tradition of crowed, noisy restaurants, where you may be rushed to clear your table for the next seating of customers.  Decades of gifting has accumulated more things than our shelves and drawers can hold, and we are content without the newest trends.  That is not to say that we no longer regard Valentines Day as special, and if you peeked in our window that evening, you might see flickering candles and a meal we prepared together.  Reminding friends and lovers that they are still appreciated should never go out of fashion, and although social media has eclipsed cards and phone calls, you might make an exception for Valentines this year.