Friday, February 13, 2015

Valentines--Won't U B Mine?


Today I’m going to talk about Valentine’s Day cards, and I have a link at the end of the post to the most amazing card I’ve seen.


Everyone knows why hearts appear on Valentine cards. Hearts are the universal symbol of love. But did you know why lace, locks and keys, and doves are frequently showcased?


Lace is often found on Valentine cards because the Latin origin of the word means to “snare or net” as in to catch a person’s heart. Birds, especially doves, are said to be popular because medieval folk lore says doves choose their mates on February 14.  Since doves mate for life what better creature to state one’s intention with? Besides, they sound so cute when they coo.

 
 Love Knots were very popular in seventeenth century England and America. The Love Knot Valentines were a string of words drawn in the shape of an endless knot. Their message could be read starting from any line and still make sense. Since Valentines were done by hand at that time, this Valentine took quite a bit of preparation to create.



Rebuses are some of oldest handmade Valentines. You probably remember reading rebuses in Highlights magazine when you were a child. A rebus is created using pictures to represent words. So a picture of an eye, a heart, and the letter U would read “I LOVE YOU.

 
Keys and locks made their way onto cards because in Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"


Mass marketing of Valentines


When you think Valentines, or greeting cards in general, you probably think Hallmark. This greeting card giant, however, was not the first manufacturer of Valentine cards.

Preprinted Valentines didn’t appear on the scene until around 1844 when Esther Howland patented a lacy Valentine in 1844. By 1860, her factory was selling thousands of Valentines, earning over $100,000. Hallmark didn’t get into the Valentine business until 1913.

Prior to mass manufacturing of Valentines, senders had to design and make their Valentines, and come up with their own romantic sentiments. In 1823, a man named Peter Quizumall, began publishing “Valentine Writer” booklets to help those who couldn’t think up Valentine verses on their own.

Of course long before Valentine cards became popular, love letters served as a means to tell your Valentine how you felt about her, or him. St. Valentine, a priest whom the holiday is named after, was, according to legend, the first one to send a Valentine love letter. He was imprisoned for marrying Roman soldiers against the Roman emperor’s decree and martyred on Feb 14. Valentine’s love letter is believed to have been sent to a young girl who visited him during his confinement, whom legend says was the jailor’s daughter. He signed his letter, “From your Valentine,” hence the classic signature that is used even today.

The first recorded Valentine is a love letter written in 1415 by the English duke of Orleans. He sent a love letter to his wife from his jail cell in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. There’s still plenty of time to make or buy that extraordinary card for your special someone. If want to create a unique card, and are short on ideas, just take a spin around the internet to get some ideas. I found this card and was so fascinated by it that I just had to share it. True Love Never Ends folding Valentine card template. The download is free. Be sure to watch the video to see how to construct the card. I’m creating this Valentine for my hubby today. Precise placement and cutting of the pieces is important when making this Valentine.

 

What about you? Do you make or buy your Valentine Cards?

 

Stitches Thru Time has some great bi-monthly giveaways scheduled for 2015! To make sure you're entered into the drawings, be sure to leave a comment. :) Winners are selected at random on the ending Saturday (after 7pm EST), so make sure you leave a comment each week for your chance to win! In fairness to all participants, no one may win twice in a row. Most winners will be announced in the Weekly Wind-up at the beginning of the week, so be sure to check back!

 

 

10 comments:

  1. I received a few Valentines in my younger years, but have never made or given one. I have seen pictures of some of the historic cards & they were incredibly decorative and beautiful.

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    1. Yes, they were beautiful. Can you imagine doing that by hand? Of course, since I like making cards, it's right up my alley.

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  2. Lovely post, Catherine, and interesting too.

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    1. Thanks, Caroline. I learned a few new things about Valentine cards in the process. too.

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  3. We use to give each other Valentine Cards but as we got older we prefer to use that money to go out for a nice dinner.. Hubby says everyday should be like Valentine's Day :)

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    1. When we were young, and poor, my husband and I would go the card section of the store, pick out the Valentine we liked best, and let the other one read it. That wasn't as much fun and buying and giving them, but it worked for us back then.

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    2. We still do that sometimes just for fun :)

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  4. Very interesting, Catherine. I've been doing some Valentines Day research of my own. In Ancient Rome they had a tradition of putting young girl's names on a piece of paper and putting them all in a box. The young men would then pick a name out of the box, and that girl would be their partner throughout the festival and in some cases even throughout the rest of the year. It was a very pagan tradition, but that is what is said to be the original origin of the valentine. When the Catholics replaced the holiday, they tried to clean it up, but men would still send the lady they desired a 'valentine' trimmed with lace, etc.

    Some very interesting stuff, but I must say, some of it is disturbing.

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    1. That's true, Amber. Almost all of the holidays we celebrate, and a lot of the traditions surrounding them, are based in some form on pagan celebrations. The Catholic Church managed to clean most of them up so that we don't realize the pagan origins, until we start looking. Halloween is the one holiday they couldn't disguise in saintly fashion. It still revolves around evil and supernatural things.

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    2. That's true, Catherine. Isn't that interesting? A friend of mine did an article on the history of Halloween. Thanks for the post!

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