VIENNA,Va., February 13, 2012 — With the advent of technology, computer graphics, Photoshop in all of its iterations, and sites like Picnik, the odds are that many Valentines will be arriving heralded either by chimes or “You’ve got mail.”
The question is, do you want it like that? Many girls, young ladies, even older ladies, and some gents prefer the old-fashioned Valentine card, Hallmark’s finest and “very best.” You know the feeling, you pick up the mail, you look for that white or red envelope, recognize the handwriting or postmark (remember those?), and tear it open to find something to make your heart beat faster. You do remember that, don’t you?
Emails may be faster, and easier, and cheaper, but are they the same and do you really feel the same? Oh well, that’s life in 2012.
St. Valentine Gave Us Love's Special Day
We don’t have to belabor the point about the good St. Valentine whose Feast Day is February 14 and whose connection is, as one book said, a “grab bag of legends.” It is said that after being in prison where he had befriended the jailer’s daughter, as he was led away to his execution, he left her a farewell note signed, “your Valentine.”
Civil War Valentine
Even Geoffrey Chaucer mentioned that on February 14, “every fowl comes…to choose his mate,” making the good saint playing matchmaker even to our feathered friends as well as human lovers. Luckily for them, most of his followers did not see the same fate as the saint, who was beheaded around 270; a church bearing his name was built over the grave.
Originally all Valentines were handmade, and consistent with the Victorian era, they were beautiful delicate lace paper cards with cupids, birds, flowers, etc. Additionally they might have bits of filmy fabrics like chiffon or silk or satin. Some might contain a lock of the lady’s hair as well as the inevitable greeting appearing to be a check drawn on the Bank of Love!
The obvious heart split in two was popular, signifying the two halves separated by war. Years ago the tomato plant was found only in flower gardens and people believed it was not a proper fruit to eat – I know not why. It was always a pretty fruit/vegetable, red as the Valentine heart, and they became “love apples," with many cards made in the shape of the tomato.
Esther Howland's Valentines Business
Back in 1848 in Massachusetts, a young girl named Esther Howland worked in her father’s stationery store. Seeing some beautiful lacy English Valentines that her father had brought from overseas, and being quite artistic herself, she began to cut out hearts from red paper and decorate them similarly. Her talent surprised her father, who immediately ordered additional red, pink, white paper, as well as a supply of red ink and more pens.
Fate stepped in when her brother, who was a sort of traveling salesman for the stationery store, asked if he could take some of her samples along to show people. The enterprising young man came back from his trip with $5,000 to $6,000 in orders for the cards!
Realizing she could not make all of these Valentines alone, she enlisted the help of some girl friends to do the pasting, cutting out, adding lace and selecting pictures. Orders increased and she had to hire more women and thus the first “Valentine factory” was born. By 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, one company in New York bought over $30,000 worth of Esther’s cards. This may have been one origin of the “assembly line” production.
However, there is always someone to throw cold water on an endeavor, and on February 14, 1856 the New York Times published an editorial, no less, sharply criticizing the practice of sending or exchanging the lowly Valentine. It stated:
Howland Valentine Card 1850
"Our beaux and belles are satisfied with a few miserable lines, neatly written upon fine paper, or else they purchase a printed Valentine with verses already made, some of which are costly, and many of which are cheap and indecent…whether decent or indecent, they only please the silly and give the vicious an opportunity to develop their propensities…. The custom with us has no useful feature, and the sooner it is abolished, the better.”
In later years after the end of the Civil War, the Times reported that the practice of sending Valentines was actually increasing. So much for the power of the press.
History of the Civil War Valentines
By the beginning of the Civil War, the country had many plants manufacturing cards, and the target buying group was the soldier away from home. Some showed pictures of sweethearts parting, some actually showed a battlefield tent with its flaps open to show a soldier writing a missive.
Some came in the form of a puzzle by folding the four corners of the envelope inward, and writing a message on the inside of each flap. It was left to the recipient to figure out the folding and thus retrieve the message!
The Museum of History in Kansas has among its holdings, a beautiful Valentine sent during the Civil War, and one assumes that the lonely soldier was the author of the message:
“MY LOVE
'Mid bugle’s blast and cannon’s roar,
And 'mid the battle’s angry flame;
'Mid clashing sabres red with gore,
I fondly breathe thy much-loved name.
I feel thee near at dead of night,
When I my vigil lone am keeping —
Thy image guards me, angel bright,
In dreams when wearied I am sleeping,
Each northward wind wafts on its breath,
To thee a yearning kiss of mine —
On glory’s field or bed of death,
I live or die thy Valentine.”
There is no way one can compare the love and depth of feeling in that card from a young man on the battlefield to a perfunctory email.
So, remember the day and the ones you love and give some thought to doing it the old-fashioned way. Then she (or he) will know that you did care enough to send the very best – a part of yourself.
Thanks to Eric Swanger of the Civil War Daily Gazette for sharing the Victorian Valentine picture with us.
Follow the column on Face Book or LinkedIn at Martha Boltz, and by email it’s MBoltz2846@aol.com. Read more of Martha’s columns on The Civil War at the Communities at the Washington Times.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
