Although it began as a religious
event in the early Christian church, Valentine’s Day in America is now associated
with romantic love and commercialism. This transformation began in Great
Britain in the early nineteenth century; the type of greeting cards we know today
began then and there. These cards
appeared in the U.S. in the late 1840s. Wikipedia has an extensive article on
the history of Valentine’s Day.
By the late 1800s newspapers and
greeting card companies made a big fuss about February 14. We can find local
evidence in the newspapers being published in Birmingham at the time. For
instance, there is an obligatory “origins of Valentine's Day” article that appeared
in the Birmingham Weekly Age Herald on March 1, 1893. Oddly, that paper—and perhaps
others of the time--seemed to publish materials related to the day even AFTER
February 14.
The
Weekly Age Herald ran a local, anonymously written gossip and happenings
column signed by “The Woman About Town.” On February 17, 1892, her column
included the following:
Valentine's Day! Ah, the thought means much to some. There is a racy little
story going the rounds regarding the fatal day.
Certain cards have been received bearing the name of a young woman, with bows of yellow, pink and blue. On one is written:
Certain cards have been received bearing the name of a young woman, with bows of yellow, pink and blue. On one is written:
"If to me your heart is true,
Send me back my bow of blue."
Send me back my bow of blue."
On
another:
"If you are some other girl's fellow,
Send me back my bow of yellow."
Send me back my bow of yellow."
And
the last:
"If I'm the girl you wish to wed,
Come and bring yourself instead."
Come and bring yourself instead."
Comments
are unnecessary.
There are few who will believe the above is true, but the fact remains the same. The young woman did send them. THE WOMAN ABOUT TOWN
There are few who will believe the above is true, but the fact remains the same. The young woman did send them. THE WOMAN ABOUT TOWN
Ah, the racy days of 1892 in
Birmingham….
Even then, not everyone seemed
happy with the state of Valentine’s Day. On February 22, 1893, the Weekly Age Herald inserted this
sentiment as a filler item into one of its pages: “As
Cervantes killed knight-errantry by his Don Quixote, and Dean Swift put a
quietus on the marvelous tales of Gulliver's Travels, so the comic valentine
has destroyed the sentiment of St. Valentine's Day. Oh, ridicule, how much
mischief is done in thy name!”
From the Victorian Era into the 1920s, our ancestors might have
exchanged some of the cards below. These and many other wonderful vintage
Valentine’s Day cards in the public domain can be found at http://www.squidoo.com/valentines-images Issues of the Weekly Age Herald can be found online in the Birmingham Public
Library’s Digital Collections at http://www.bplonline.org/resources/digital_project/
