Valentines of Yore

ANTIQUE CHILDHOOD VALENTINES
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Above, adult handwriting of my Grandmother
Rovilla Heideman Lindsey (1891- 1966):
"My first Valentine after starting
to school." [c. 1896]

Below, perhaps written by
the mother of Rovilla's classmate
"To Rovilla from Sarah Grimes"

And, written by Rovilla as an adult:
"Sarah was dearest little friend I
ever had. Lived in Lyons, Kans."

~ Valentine Coincidence ~
I came across Rovilla's late 1890s childhood Valentines a few years ago and filed them carefully away for future reference. I knew they might come in handy one day for the creation of a blogpost such as this one.

This next Valentine, however, is a more recent discovery, but it also comes to me courtesy of Rovilla. A week ago, I was thumbing through her 1965 diary, which has been sitting on my desk, along with some other memorabilia, since my mother -- Rovilla's daughter -- died in May 2020. I have not read it cover to cover, but every now and then I pick it up and read a section. When I did so last week, on February 10, this little paper Valentine fluttered to the floor. Somehow, it had been wedged so safely in the diary that I had never before noticed or dislodged it.

As luck would have it, the timing was perfect -- barely a week before Valentine's Day! Rovilla was my "Grandma Lindsey." But this 100 - year - old Valentine is addressed to another "Grandma Linsdey" -- Rovilla's mother-in-law, the mother of her husband (my mother's father / my grandfather Paul J.Lindsey).

"To: Grandma Lindsey
[My great - grandmother
Sarah Hartman Lindsey (1856 - 1937)]

From: May Smith
[My first cousin, once removed (1917 - 1981);
she was the daughter of Paul's sister,
my great aunt Beatrice (1891 - 1921)]

As you can see from the inside, this sweet, simple Valentine
was cut from a wallpaper sample / advertisement.
I wish the text indicated a specific year!
We'll just have to guess, based on May's handwriting.
She was 5 in 1922, so it depends on when she learned cursive.

How heartwarming it is to think of May preparing this cut - out heart for her grandmother or to read Rovilla's reminiscence of exchanging Valentines with the dearest little friend she ever had. How lucky we are to have been raised within a tradition of lace hearts and grade - school Valentines. When I went to my favorite greeting card website a few days ago to download a few e - Valentines, I was baffled to encounter this informative little disclaimer:

"One of the numerous differences between the “two nations divided by a common language” as Churchill described us, is that here in the UK, Valentine’s Day tends to be strictly about romantic relationships, whereas in America, it seems people send Valentine’s Day cards to pretty much anyone! This can lead to unfortunate transatlantic misunderstandings."

"Unfortunate"? Really? Could it be all that bad to receive a Valentine card? This is the first time I've come across the Valentine warning, even though I've been sending Jacquie Lawson e - cards for 20 years. She elaborates further on the cultural dis - connection:

"Here in the UK, Valentine’s Day is predominantly a matter of romance between couples. So when we first set up JL back in 2002, we were amazed to receive requests from American fans for Valentine’s Day ecards suitable for their mothers, or grandmothers, or indeed almost anyone!

Over the years we’ve learnt to provide a wide selection of Valentines ecards, suitable for all your loved ones – romantic, platonic, or whatever."

Whatever! No Valentine boxes stuffed with silly cards from your classmates? No Valentines to or from the teacher? Nothing for Grandma? Nothing from Aunt Alice for her little niece and nephew? That would be too sad.

Rovilla with her younger brother Melville in 1910

**************

Some closing connections
for the naysayers amongst us:

Lemony Snicket singles out the day on "A Series of Unfortunate Events Calendar": "February is midwinter, and February 14th is mid - February, so Valentine's Day is mid-midwinter, the bleakest day of the year. Also, love is celebrated."

&
Margaret Atwood explains the tradition of getting down on one knee to say "I love you": "What do you think all that kneeling's about down among the crinolines, on the Persian carpet? Or at least say it. When all else is lacking, verbalization can be enough. Love. There, you can stand up now, it didn't kill you. Did it?

Next Fortnightly Post ~ More Vintage Valentines
Monday, February 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Valentines From Friends & Ellie
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com