ove is

ALENTINE’S
WISHES are almost
always inscribed
upen paper, as well

as within the lover’s heart.
Cards and other tokens of sin-
cere affection have long been tradi-
tions central to the lovers’ day. But
the convenience and variety of
mass-produced cards are a relative-
ly recent phenomenon, suited to

: tines,”

the feverish pace of modern living.

In days gone by, cards were per-
sonal creations, over which the
sender fretted and slaved, often
devoting hours to something that
would impress a desperately
sought after “friend.” .

In 1952 Ruth Webb Lee wrote
History of Valentines, and her book
remains a fascinating study of
human inventiveness when it
comes to the topic of love.

It is hard for us to imagine
lifestyles in the 18th century, she
says, but one thing is certain: peo-
ple had more leisure: time and
greater reasons for creating their
own valentines.

“At that time youth had ample
leisure to create handmade valen-
she wrote, “for there were
no movies, radio, television, trains
nor automobiles for distraction.

There was more time for love and
sentiment and these were in abun-
dance, especially come Feb. 14.”

A valentine card required the
skills of a designer, an artist, a poet
and a diplomat all rolled into one.
Then once the creation was fin-
ished, the sender had to fill the
postman's shoes as well, for in the
18th century there was no mail ser-
vice to speed the heartfelt master-
piece from the lover’s hand to the
doorstep of his or her desire.

It was a completely do-it-your-
self project.

The results, wrote Lee, were
“tasteful” on the whole, although
valentines artists tended to be
stronger in the visual field than in
the literary.

“These early valentines were
laboriously wrought by various
processes from watercolor pen

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the

work, to ‘pin pricks’ and ‘cutouts’
that were beautifully colored,” she
said. “There were also rebuses,
acrostics, and other styles of puz-
zies, or cryptograms.”

From the descriptions below,
you may want to revive some of
the forgotten arts of a personally
crafted Valentine; on the other
hand, once you’ve seen some of
the results, you might decide a

store-bought card will do just fine ©
.+ item, The repeated panels | were

for the occasion.

An example of soar-
ing verse, sure to make
a modern couple
cringe, was penned in
1760 by an unnamed.
swain under the title,
On the Paragon of
Excellence:

All hail fair
vestal, lovely
gift of heaven,
Nourished in
prudence and
in wisdom
given. .
Neglect — not
this small pre-
sent from a
friend,

Esteem com- -
mences where fierce pas-
sion ends.

And so it goes, for
eight more lines. In
case you didn’t
notice — the
recipient most cer-
tainly would have
~— the first letters .«:
of the lines in the:
first ‘stanza spel!
love’s - first
name, ANNE.

The second stan-
za’s first letters spell
her second name, THATCHER.

-Contortions, puzzles, riddles ‘J

and tricks were a common device
for the valentines sender.
‘A popular item was the rebus,:a

type of design that has largely fall-
en into disuse, but which ‘lovers, .
found irresistible ‘in our, ‘great, .
"_ great- grandparents’ day. -

‘The recipient of a_rebus might :

take as long figuring out what her

adoring suitor said as he did in’
putting the love note ‘together. |:
These cards were folded into inge--

Heart Shaped Pendant
set with Baguette Cut~
diamonds & 18 kt.
’ gold chain

in the cards this day |

nious little packets that had num-
bered lines of verse which. had to
be reassembled. .

It was a sort of origami of the
heart, adorned with primitive
drawings and sometimes even
more primitive words,

The combined effect was sure
to convince a valentine of the suit-
or’s determination, if nothing else.

Intricate’ and exquisitely deli-
cate cutouts were also a popular

snipped into © the
shapes . of hearts,
virds, even cupids~
by lovers whose

hands would have |

been thé envy ofa
_ Surgeon. Z
_geontent -

sometim'es.
‘. inscribed ‘lines of“
“poetry, on. the
: diaphanous * ‘sheets

_ them. A? common’

‘infinite variety. of:
-valentine.”.:

“And. we "re, still.

; today.

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after 25 years of business in Dundanni, .
lam moving to a new location in the neighbourbood.
My new address will ba
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DESIGNS LID.
2460 Marine. Dr, West Vancouver