More vintage valentines! (You didn’t think we were going to stop with Part 1, did you?)
More terrific vintage valentines can be seen at:
Here’s how to make your own fun and easy homemade valentines.
Still want more? See my: Vintage Valentines, Part 1
Posted in Design, Holidays, Vintage
Tagged Early Valentines, Food Valentines, Old Fashioned Valentines, Retro, Retro Valentines, Space Age Valentines, St. Valentines Day, Transportation Valentines, Valentine History, Valentine Traditions, Valentine's Day, Valentines, Valentines Day History, Vintage, Vintage Valentines, Winter Valentines
Valentine’s Day, and the valentines we send to honor it, have an interesting past. Long before the Roman emperor Gelasius, and then the Catholic church, proclaimed February 14th a holy day named for the martyred St. Valentine (who refused to forsake Christianity while in prison and sent love letters signed “from your Valentine” to the jailer’s daughter), the ancient Romans had their own mid-winter celebrations of love — Lupercalia fertility festivals, during which young Roman males sacrificed goats and frolicked in goatskin loincloths, striking young women with goatskin thongs. (Attractive!)
Early famous senders of valentines include Charles, Duke of Orleans (like St. Valentine, also in prison) and King Henry V. In the early 1700s, valentine “writers”, or booklets of decorative verse, were all the rage. In the 1800s, people favored “Daguerreotype” valentines, based on the new tintype photos. The Victorian era ushered in valentines that were more similar to the ones we know today, helped along by new methods of printing and mass production and inexpensive “penny post” mailing.
This is a wonderful history of valentines and Valentine’s Day.
This is Charles, Duke of Orleans’ valentine, now in the British Museum.
Colorful, often mass-produced valentines really took off in the 1920s. Their popularity soared as children became increasingly involved in giving and receiving them. Some early valentines depicted household items, animals, professions and new modes of transportation and many employed fun puns and wordplay. Their heyday occurred during a wide swath of mid-20th century, before valentines largely became the province of licensed characters from TV and movies.
I’ve rounded up some of my favorite valentines by theme.
More terrific vintage valentines can be seen at:
Here’s how to make your own fun and easy homemade valentines.
Still want more? See my: Vintage Valentines, Part 2
Posted in Design, Holidays, Vintage
Tagged Early Valentines, Food Valentines, Household Valentines, Kitchen Valentines, Old Fashioned Valentines, Retro, Retro Valentines, St. Valentines Day, Valentine History, Valentine Traditions, Valentine's Day, Valentines, Valentines Day History, Vintage, Vintage Valentines, Western Valentines
Many children adore the ritual and whimsy of both pretend and real tea parties, and this seems at no time truer than at Valentine’s Day, when we’ve made valentines for loved ones while enjoying finger sandwiches and sipping “tea”. Teas can also add ritual and fun to winter holidays, birthdays, May Day or Mother’s Day or a summer day. Crafts are a nice addition to tea — if not valentines, then perhaps May Day crowns, or fairy or flower crafts. Games work well for tea, too (board or pretend.) Tea parties are a great way to involve multiple families or generations or to make an everyday gathering more special.
Collect teacups, saucers, and plates in advance (the more mismatched the better!) They can often be found inexpensively at secondhand stores, flea markets, and garage sales. Disposable cups can also be found at party stores, or glue small rhinestones to plastic cups with dots of glue. (Place cups on a towel so they don’t roll, glue a few rhinestones on and let dry, then turn the cup a quarter turn and glue more rhinestones on.)
You may want to have guests bring a special teddy bear or doll or invite them to dress up for taking tea in hats and gloves. The table, too, might be set with a favorite or antique tablecloth or doilies.
Tea Sandwiches
Tea sandwiches come in an endless variety to suit many tastes.
You’ll need:
Thinly sliced white bread
Sharp knife or cookie cutters
Sandwich ingredients (see below)
Cut the crusts off the bread and cut each slice into two triangles, or cut into large shapes, such as flowers, using a cookie cutter. (If using a cookie cutter, note that some sandwiches are better assembled before cutting.)
Spread one bread slice with filling and top with the second slice of bread, or serve open-faced.
Sandwich fillings to try:
Peanut butter and jelly
Cream cheese and jelly
Cream cheese and cucumber slices
Peanut or apple butter and honey or Nutella
Tuna, egg, or chicken salad
Cheese and butter
Lunch meat and cheese or mayonnaise
Looking for more ideas?
Serve open-face sandwiches (or minibagels) by spreading them with cream cheese or other spread and decorating with sprinkles. Or Substitute animal or other crackers, or cucumber rounds, for the bread to make especially tiny sandwiches.
Scones and biscuits are also welcome at tea, as are whimsical fairy and leprechaun foods.
Photos: Susan Sachs Lipman
Everyone loves scavenger hunts. It’s great fun to be on the lookout for things. Hunts can turn a simple walk into an adventure or a game. They can cause us to look around in nature a little more closely than we may have.
In many parts of the world, a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt can get you outside during winter. See how many heart-shaped objects you can find and keep track of the number of them as you explore. You may be surprised, once you look very closely, at just how many heart-shaped items there are in nature. I dug up a few around the internet:
New for 2013:
New for 2014:
For more inspiration, visit my Hearts in Nature photo album on Facebook.
Read the inspiration for this scavenger hunt, Active Kids Club’s Outdoor Valentine Link Up.
You might also like Love in Nature and in History.
Photos: Tariqweb, Public Domain, Public Domain, dvortygirl, Angi Unruh, Public Domain, Public Domain, Calum Redhead, Pixdaus, Public Domain, Public Domain, Public Domain, Claude Truong-Ngoc, Public Domain, Public Domain, aussiegirl, Bigstock, Bigstock
Posted in Holidays, Nature, Seasons, The Great Outdoors
Tagged Active Kids Club, Hearts in Nature, Nature Activities, Nature Games, Nature Heart Photos, Nature Heart Pictures, Nature Hearts, Nature Photography, Outdoor Activities, Outdoor Games, Outdoor Valentine, Photography, Scavenger Hunt, Valentine's Day, Valentines
There are those who find Valentine’s Day trite — a Hallmark holiday, at best — and scoff at roses, chocolates, teddy bears, balloons, and other designations of love. Not me! In addition to celebrating love every day I can, I admit to being a complete sucker for Valentines signs and symbols — for sweet doily-bordered hearts, home-made meals, romantic gifts, and bunches of brightly colored flowers that appear in profusion in the dead of winter. I like seeing them all lined up at the market like these, just waiting for someone (even if at the last minute) to decide to scoop some up just because it’s the best and most extravagant way at the moment to proclaim their feelings.
Have you seen and photographed something unusual, whimsical, beautiful, or otherwise interesting in your travels? Has anything surprised you or caused you to pause? Or have you simply experienced a small, lovely moment that you wanted to capture? If so, I hope you’ll share with us by leaving a comment with a link to your photo. I look forward to seeing it!
Photo by Susan Sachs Lipman
You might also like:
How to Make: Fun and Easy Homemade Valentines
Photo Friday: Between Seasons
Photo Friday: San Francisco Storefront
Posted in Holidays, Snapshot, To Market
Tagged Flower Photography, Flowers, Photography, Roses, Valentine's Day, Valentines
Since Roman times, people have celebrated a mid-February festival — once called Lupercalia and celebrating fertility, the holiday was changed by Pope Gelasius in 496 A.D. into a Christian feast day in honor of the Roman martyr Saint Valentine. Today, 25% of all cards sent in the U.S. per year are valentines.
And why not? In addition to proclaiming love, valentines can be lovely, bright, traditional, and endless in variety. As such, they make a wonderful craft for children, who can easily decorate large paper hearts with simple things found in grocery and craft stores and around your house.
You’ll need:
Construction paper in classic Valentine colors (red, pink, purple) — or not!
At least one good heart-shaped template, made of cardboard, that you can trace around to make valentine hearts. (Sometimes these can be found in craft stores.)
Scissors, regular and/or pinking edged
Glue, traditional and stick
Paper doilies that are slightly larger than the heart-shape
To decorate your valentine hearts, choose from:
Smaller doilies, either whole or cut
Commercial valentines, either whole or cut
Stickers (old-fashioned valentine or floral themes, or any of your choosing)
Small pom poms
Ribbon pieces
Small paper cups for candies or baked goods (available at specialty or grocery stores)
Small paper hearts
Feathers
Buttons
Beads
Tissue paper shreds
Crinkle cut paper
Pipe cleaners
Party napkins, whole or cut up
Felt hearts
Foam hearts and other shapes
Fabric scraps
Crepe paper pieces
Glitter
Markers, to write messages
Paint
The list is endless! We collect valentine items from year to year and store them away when not in use. Most of these things are available in craft and similar stores. Younger children, especially, seem to like the really tactile items like pom poms, feathers and candy cups.
It’s easy to host a small or large group to make valentines. Try putting each item in its own small bowl. Or have guests dress up or wear hats for a Valentines Tea that includes mini sandwiches and juice or tea in teacups. (Second-hand stores are a good source of old teacups.)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman
You might also like:
Mixed Reviews for New Necco Sweetheart Flavors
