It was ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth B次元官网网址� a fourth grader B次元官网网址� seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card.
The folding, pop-up ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day card, on stock so heavy it remains in good shape 106 years later, reads: B次元官网网址淔orget me not!/I ask of thee/Reserve one spot/In your heart for me.B次元官网网址�
And so she did. Years later they married, and Louise displayed the cherished card, tucked into the fretwork of a bedroom dresser, for decades to come. She pointed it out to her daughter, and later to a granddaughter, me, and it remained near her bedside until her death at 91, a token of lasting love.
Although the message was in English, the card is printed with the word B次元官网网址淕ermanyB次元官网网址� and is seemingly imported, as were many cards of that era. Small companies in the U.S. also were part of a flourishing commercial card business.
Hallmark, which began offering ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day cards in 1913, estimates that today, 145 million ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day cards are exchanged annually, not including the kidsB次元官网网址� valentines popular for classroom exchanges.
Fertility-related customs and rituals have been celebrated in mid-February since pagan times, says Emelie Gevalt, curator of folk art and curatorial chair for collections at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.
Tokens of affection varied: In the 1600s, the practice was to give pairs of gloves in mid-February, she says.
B次元官网网址淏y the 18th century, we start to see something that really begins to resemble modern ValentineB次元官网网址檚 cards,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚n the 19th century, this evolved further to the point where popular ladiesB次元官网网址� magazines like HarperB次元官网网址檚 Weekly published instructions for readers on how to craft them.B次元官网网址�
There have long been both earnest, heartfelt Valentines like Grandpa FredB次元官网网址檚, and ones in a more teasing, playful vein.
The museumB次元官网网址檚 collection includes a number of lovingly crafted tokens of affection from various periods. B次元官网网址淵ou see the heart motif quite a lot,B次元官网网址� Gevalt says.
Although not specifically linked to ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day, an exhibit at the museum opening March 17, B次元官网网址淢aterial Witness: Folk and Self-Taught Artists at Work,B次元官网网址� features two examples of B次元官网网址渇raktur,B次元官网网址� exuberantly decorated watercolors made by German immigrants in Pennsylvania. One is called B次元官网网址淚nverted Heart,B次元官网网址� and another depicts a labyrinth.
B次元官网网址淭hey were really dazzling objects, including motifs of flowers or hearts. The playfulness and cleverness of these objects is one of the most interesting aspects they have in common,B次元官网网址� Gevalt says.
In the mid-19th century, some people shared B次元官网网址淰inegar Valentines,B次元官网网址� a sort of anti-Valentine that featured playfully insulting verses, not unlike a modern-day roast.
Sometimes, cards involved writing in a circle or upside down, like a puzzle. Some had a decorative folded border or verses on the folds; cutwork resembling lace; or watercolor decorations of pierced hearts, lovebirds and flowers. LoverB次元官网网址檚 knots and labyrinths were also common elements.
B次元官网网址淭hey remind me of games, like plucking the petals of a flower saying B次元官网网址榮he loves me, she loves me not,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Gevalt says.
The boom in commercial ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day cards in the mid-1800s was a reflection of changing courtship patterns, says Elizabeth White Nelson, associate professor of history at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
B次元官网网址淭he idea of companionate marriage and love became a part of the calculus of marriage, and ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day cards became a part of courtship,B次元官网网址� she says.
These days, the cards continue to evolve.
B次元官网网址淥ver the last few years, trends have been less about romantic love but more about letting someone know they matter,B次元官网网址� says Jen Walker, vice president of trends and creative studios at Hallmark Cards, Inc.
There are B次元官网网址渕ore inclusive visuals, and a larger representation of relationships B次元官网网址� love, chosen family, friendships, parents and children, self-care,B次元官网网址� she says.
A bit of mystery surrounds my Grandma LouiseB次元官网网址檚 precious Valentine. It would have been out of character for Fred to buy a commercial card as opposed to, say, presenting her with a bouquet of pussy willows he had picked.
B次元官网网址淭hat period would have been the beginning of an organized practice of exchanging Valentines in school,B次元官网网址� says Nelson. In some classrooms, everyone was required, or at least encouraged, to give a Valentine.
B次元官网网址淭he giving and receiving of Valentines was always partly about performing love, for an audience,B次元官网网址� says Nelson, B次元官网网址渁nd once that ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day card got saved, it would have become a talisman of all that love is supposed to be.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擪atherine Roth, The Associated Press
