With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it is time to explore creative ways to declare your love to the person who has caught your attention, or to remind your partner of your love for them. Here are a few vintage Valentine’s Day traditions that were all the rage many years ago.
A very popular gift to offer to your partner is one that originates from the Victorian era. Puzzle purses certainly showed just how much people cared about their loved ones. This project consisted of making an unfoldable origami craft with a love note on each section of the folded paper. The recipient would unfold the gift and at every piece of the puzzle uncovered, a heartfelt note was revealed. These gifts — often beautifully decorated with drawings — were cherished as keepsakes, representing how much time, love and effort was put into each thoughtful word and fold.
Another Valentine’s tradition was gifting violets to your loved one. This was a Victorian tradition before roses became the popular Valentine’s Day flowers. These flowers were said to be crushed and used as ink to write love letters to partners, and thus became a staple of the holiday. Violets represent love, faithfulness and even fertility and also became a popular gift for newlyweds.
The next Victorian tradition consisted of giving the woman that caught your eye a single glove as a declaration of love or interest in the receiver of the gift. If she wore the single glove on Easter, it meant that she was interested in the person who gave her the glove. Usually, it went as far as a marriage proposal and if the woman reciprocated her suitor’s love, she would wear the glove and accept to marry him.
Originating in Wales, “love spoons” are a sweet Valentine’s tradition that require giving your loved one a wooden spoon carved with intricate designs and symbols of love. If you received a spoon that had a heart symbol, it represented passion, love and adoration. If you received a spoon with a carved chain, it meant that the person giving the spoon wished to be together forever. On other spoons, a dragon meant protection, a flower meant affection and a horseshoe meant luck. These spoons are now easy to buy as souvenirs from Wales but are also given as wedding gifts and birthday presents.
Finally, something which has not completely gone out of style, is crafting handmade cards. Many peoples’ tradition of choice was to hand make beautiful cards for their partners which contained love letters and poems and were beautifully decorated. Because cards like this were not sold in stores, people would make their own using materials such as fabrics and ribbon for texture and colorful ink and dried flowers.
