Valentine’s Day is the official name for Feb. 14 but another important character’s name appears just as often as Valentine. That is Cupid, the son of Venus. It took a writer in the second century to spin a tale of love, jealousy and pride that complicated relationships then just as much as today. In his novel many of the mythical gods of that time played important roles as did a beautiful mortal woman called Pysche. Because of this pre-soap opera tale Cupid was associated with love ever after.
Very early, handwritten cards celebrating the day were called “cupid cards.” The first printed cards in the U.S. were done by a New York engraver in 1834 but it took a woman’s touch to make them a “must have” item for Feb. 14. Esther Howland received a homemade Valentine in 1847 that delighted her and she vowed to make her own the next year. In her home in Worcester, MA she began creating samples using cutouts, lace-paper, flowers and yes, cupids. She was so pleased with the samples she asked her brother, a salesman for the stationery store her father owned, to show them to customers.
To her amazement he returned with over $5,000 of orders for cards. The home in Worcester was transformed as young women were put to work making fancy Valentines. It wasn’t long before this enterprise was making $10,000 annually. Soon Esther was being called the “Valentine Queen of America.” Even today she is regarded as one of the country’s first career women. Her hometown of Worcester remembers her by holding an annual Valentine-making contest open to all third- through sixth-graders in the city’s schools.
Seven years ago when the citizens of the capital city of Vermont, Montpelier, awoke on Valentine’s Day they were greeted with red paper hearts. During the night someone had taped red hearts on windows in the downtown district . Since then the town has grown accustomed to finding hearts stuck to windows in that section of town every Valentine’s Day. The unknown heart scatterer has been dubbed the Valentine Phantom but that heart lover could be called the Cupid Impersonator.
In February 2007 I saw a picture in the paper that I saved. It was a scene taken at Arlington National Cemetery that reminded me of the event that has become a tradition there during the Christmas season. A small town in Maine that makes holiday wreaths transport thousands of them to Washington to place on the graves.
In this picture fresh roses had been placed on the graves. Perhaps the weather had been bad in that area but a Virginia florist was left with many unsold roses he had stocked for Valentine’s Day. With the help of employees and friends more than 700 roses were taken to Arlington and placed on the graves of soldiers who had given their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Today our love is shown with cards, flowers and candy on Feb. 14. In an earlier time birds played a role too. Some credit the English author Geoffrey Chaucer for that. In the 1300s he wrote that Feb. 14 was the day when birds chose their new spring mates. Bird experts scoff at that because the date is too early for birds to think of romance.
But the young women of that time liked the idea and they gave birds the credit for their choice of a mate. If on Feb. 14 a woman saw a robin flying overhead it meant she would marry a sailor; a sparrow, she would marry a poor man but be very happy. If it was a goldfinch, she would marry a rich man.
Happy Valentine’s Day! May your love be forever young.
Columns
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February 10, 2009
RANDOM THOUGHTS: May your love be forever young
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