{"id":97587,"date":"2024-02-14T10:49:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=97587"},"modified":"2024-02-14T11:42:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:42:55","slug":"valentines-go-to-war-wwii-valentines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/valentines-go-to-war-wwii-valentines.html","title":{"rendered":"Valentines Go to War: WWII Valentines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to help celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega shows some examples of valentines our ancestors sent during WWII. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

February 14th is a day for valentine cards, candies, and gifts. But what happens when loved ones are away fighting in a war?<\/p>\n

During World War II, Valentine\u2019s Day was celebrated \u2013 but it looked a little different than in the past. The National World War II Museum explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cServicemen fighting overseas wrestled with homesickness as they endured dreadful conditions and faced constant danger, while stateside sweethearts and family members agonized over the fate of loved ones in the Armed Forces.\u201d (1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: 1944 valentine. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, the valentines exchanged reflected patriotism, hope, and love.<\/p>\n

Valentine Cards in the Newspaper<\/strong><\/p>\n

Military themes were incorporated into valentine cards that family, friends, wives and girlfriends could mail to their loved ones serving domestically or overseas. We can view some of these cards by searching historical newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, for the WWII years (for the U.S., 1941-1945).<\/p>\n

WWII-era newspaper articles discussed the changes in valentine cards, and illustrated the articles with photos and verses from available cards. Here are some examples from a 1942 issue of the Plain Dealer<\/em>. The image on the card found on the bottom left states on the cover:<\/p>\n

\u201cA valentine for one swell guy! I\u2019m falling in a tailspin, Boy \u2013 And if you won\u2019t be mine \u2013\u201d\u00a0 The inside proclaims: \u201cI\u2019m gonna lose control and be a \u2018cracked up\u2019 valentine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 6 February 1942, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This 1943 New Orleans Item<\/em> newspaper article states that thousands of special valentines marketed toward service people were on sale in the city. Valentines for service men and women to buy and those for civilians included hearts, puns, and references to the times \u2013 including one mentioned in this newspaper article that refers to rationing (food and items such as gas and tires were rationed during World Wat II):<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a ceiling on this and that \u2013 they haven\u2019t missed a thing, So honey, let\u2019s get busy soon, they\u2019ll ration love by spring.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
New Orleans Item (New Orleans, Louisiana), 4 February 1943, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This 1944 Erie Daily Times<\/em> newspaper article includes some WWII-inspired options.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Erie Daily Times (Erie, Pennsylvania), 5 February 1944, page 16<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This photo caption reads:<\/p>\n

Cupid goes to war \u2013 Cupid has donned a uniform for Valentine\u2019s Day this year and instead of darts is using bullets aimed directly at the heart. All the lace and fancy stuff that used to go with the valentines of yesteryear has given way to things military. Red, white, and blue are the predominant colors and instead of the heart you\u2019re more apt to see a love-sick soldier or sailor spouting verse more GI than rhyming. But though the 1944 valentine has changed, it still carries the same old message: \u201cWill You Be My Valentine?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Valentine Telegrams<\/strong><\/p>\n

We associate Valentine\u2019s Day with paper greeting cards, but during World War II you could send a telegram. In years past, singing telegrams could be used to convey love \u2013 but as this 1942 Jackson Citizen Patriot<\/em> newspaper article remarks, they would not be sent in 1942 for \u201cobvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 1 February 1942, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those sending telegrams could choose from prewritten stock messages that reflected the era. According to this Jackson Citizen Patriot<\/em> article:<\/p>\n

The Jackson office of the Postal Telegraph Co. expects to have on hand some special wartime telegraphic valentine greetings that have just been announced at the New York headquarters of the company.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The sender would pick a number and the corresponding message would be sent over the telegraph wire. A few war-time inspired messages included:<\/p>\n

#539: Remember Pearl Harbor and remember me, too. We are banking on you.
\n#540 My heart is with you every minute. With your help we are going to win it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Happy War-Time Valentine\u2019s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valentine cards during the World War II years spanned the gamut from the traditional to the humorous to ones that took on a military theme.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: 1944 valentine. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Couples separated by the war had their choice of card types to convey their feelings during this time.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: 1944 valentine. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some cases, the cards sent did not include a valentine\u2019s greeting but instead reminded the solder that they were loved \u2013 like this example sent for Valentine\u2019s Day 1944 that included patriotic colors and a place for the female sender to include a lipstick kiss. (2)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: 1944 valentine. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Researching about our ancestor\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day is one way to remember them. Even if you have not inherited valentine cards, historical newspapers help us better understand what Valentine\u2019s Day was like during a specific year.<\/p>\n

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

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> a heart with \u201cLove\u201d in the middle.<\/p>\n

_______________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cLove\u2014Guess Who! Valentine\u2019s Letters from World War II,\u201d The National World War II Museum (https:\/\/www.nationalww2museum.org\/war\/articles\/valentines-letters-world-war-ii<\/a>: accessed 30 January 2024).
\n(2) From the John Milo Thomas and Marjorie Payne Thomas Letter Collection. In the possession of Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article \u2013 to help celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega shows some examples of valentines our ancestors sent during WWII.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":97617,"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":[3252,6385,3253,2428],"class_list":["post-97587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-st-valentines-day","tag-valentine-cards","tag-valentines-day-2","tag-wwii"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/illustration-0214-2020-featured-graphic-hearts-love.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97587","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=97587"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97621,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97587\/revisions\/97621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}