Valentine Day Cards

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32222, 14 February 1970, Page 5

Valentine Day Cards

(By

DENIS McCAULEY)

In the last few years the practice of sending Valentine cards has shown signs of gaining popularity in New Zealand, even if the reason for this popularity is to raise a laugh rather than to awaken the romantic spirit.

New Zealand has never been badly afflicted by the Valentine fever, although in other countries, especially last century, it reached the depths of sentimentality and pocket of the present-day New Zealand Mothers Day and Christmas combined. Yet the origins of the custom and how it came to be associated with St Valentine seem to be buried in the mists of the past. In fact, all the efforts of many learned scholars have so far failed to identify the real St Valentine. One explanation of the origin of the Valentine custom is that it is a Christianisation of an old. Roman ritual, in which boys and girls drew each other’s names on the festival of Juno, on February 15. In England in the early 18th century it was the practice to put into a bowl a number of names of one sex. An equal number of names of the opposite sex were naired with these and each person withdrew a name, which was called his or her Valentine and was regarded as a good matrimonial omen. Another explanation is that ♦ho Valentine custom is conn^ctedwS the old belief February 14 was the day nn which the birds (feath™d7 chose their mates. This explanation is lent some e P bv the numerous references to birds mating by early Engl,sh ” ° n February, 1477 for instance, an English 14/7. to -‘And. cousin, Vs Saint Valentine s

Day, and every bird chooseth him a mate.’’ Whatever the origin of the custom, there is no doubt that it was expensive. Pepys, the celebrated 17th-century diarist writes: "This evening came up my wife, who willingly showed me her jewels, including a turquoise ring set with diamonds, my Valentine’s gift to her.” Probably because of the excesses of Pepys and his contemporaries, the artistic-ally-made card, bearing a short love poem, made its appearance in the 18th century. This eventually became so popular that by the middle of the 19th century the old custom of giving expensive Valentine presents had almost completely disappeared. Although Valentine Day caught some leading poets in sentimental vein, most verses, meant in all sincerity by their senders, only amuse us in this more sophisticated and cynical age. One of the

earliest surviving cards, dated 1760, reads in part: “Charming Chloe, look with pity On your lovesick swain.” Another, dated 1820, reads: “1 want my Agatha a partner for life: So tell me truly will you be my wife.” Late in the 19th century, when the card-sending custom was at its peak, more sophistication was introduced into the verse. Sentimental, courteous, comic and even satirical lines came in artis-tically-cut lace paper, with violets, roses, lovebirds, and words in bright colours. By this time it had become standard practice to send Valentine cards to everyone of the opposite sex one knew well or wanted to know better, and if was probably this extensiveness of the custom that led to its near disappearance.