{"id":65015,"date":"2021-02-12T13:20:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T18:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=65015"},"modified":"2024-02-14T11:32:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:32:30","slug":"did-your-ancestors-celebrate-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/did-your-ancestors-celebrate-valentines-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Did Your Ancestors Celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find examples of how our ancestors celebrated Valentine\u2019s Day. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

February 14th<\/sup> is two days away! What are you doing for Valentine\u2019s Day? People seem to have very strong feelings one way or the other regarding this annual celebration of love. Some hate Valentine\u2019s Day and claim that it\u2019s just a greeting card holiday meant to help retailers make money, and serves no other purpose. But is Valentine\u2019s Day a more modern holiday meant only to fill the coffers of the greeting card, candy, and flower industries?<\/p>\n

Old newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, provide the answer to that question. While one of the biggest greeting card companies was founded in the early 20th century, the celebration of Valentine\u2019s Day predates that significantly.<\/p>\n

A search of the phrase \u201cValentine Gift\u201d in GenealogyBank\u2019s newspapers included results from the year 1769 \u2013 and a search for \u201cValentine\u2019s Day\u201d resulted in newspaper matches from as early as 1771. What did those early American newspaper articles say about the day of love? Here are a few examples I found.<\/p>\n

Poems<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, Valentine\u2019s Day meant poems published in the newspaper. This 1789 poem in the Pennsylvania Mercury and Universal Advertiser<\/em> is titled \u201cFebruary \u2013 An Ode,\u201d but as the editorial note at the bottom clarifies, its reference to \u201clover\u2019s day\u201d is actually Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Pennsylvania Mercury and Universal Advertiser (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 28 February 1789, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of all the Valentine poems I read in historical newspapers, I thought this one from 1893 was especially sweet. It tells of an older married couple and what a husband witnesses as his wife fondly looks at a valentine he sent her before they were wed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Elkhart Weekly Review (Elkhart, Indiana), 9 January 1893, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that our ancestors sent Valentine\u2019s Day cards to their friends and loved ones. One history of greeting cards states that a 1797 book called The Young Man\u2019s Valentine Writer<\/em> assisted men in the writing of valentine sentiments for a loved one.* Today the busiest times at the Post Office might be Christmas and Mother\u2019s Day, but according to this 1811 article from London, Valentine\u2019s Day was so busy that they had to hire extra staff.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Washingtonian (Windsor, Vermont), 6 May 1811, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valentine cards of all types were sent via the mail. This Pennsylvania newspaper article from 1883 reports that the stores are stocking cards of all kinds, including bannerettes which were made of silk and hand painted, costing up to $3.50 (around $90 today). There is also a mention of \u201cvulgar valentines\u201d which most likely refer to \u201cvinegar valentines\u201d that were anything but loving. These popular 19th century valentines were sarcastic and mean \u2013 definitely something not sent to those you were hoping to impress.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 9 February 1883, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advertisements<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that the weeks and days approaching February 14th mean advertisements for all kinds of gifts. That was true even for our ancestors.<\/p>\n

Looking for a gift? Jewelry has always been perfect. In this 1898 advertisement, amethyst is suggested for a valentine surprise. The advertisement appeals to those who want something traditional that was associated with St. Valentine himself. It states that: \u201cSt. Valentine is said to have worn an amethyst ring, engraved with an exquisite little cupid; and as February is the month dedicated to this gem, the fable undoubtedly has some foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 14 February 1898, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And of course, jewelry continued to be advertised as the perfect Valentine\u2019s Day gift year after year. Investing in jewelry might have even influenced a family member to propose marriage.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 8 February 1931, page 60<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happy Valentine\u2019s Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of Valentine\u2019s Day because it symbolizes love \u2013 whether it be romantic or otherwise. It\u2019s a great day to surprise someone you care about. Searching historical newspapers makes it apparent that our ancestors believed in it as well.<\/p>\n

* Chase, Ernest Dudley. The Romance of Greeting Cards. An Historical Account of the Origin, Evolution and Development of Christmas Cards, Valentines and Other Forms of Greeting Cards from the Earliest Days to the Present Time. (University Press of Cambridge, 1956).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find examples of how our ancestors celebrated Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":65051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12703],"tags":[3253],"class_list":["post-65015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-valentines-day-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-0210-2020-featured-graphic-valentine.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65015"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96777,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65015\/revisions\/96777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}