Figure 7. Catalogue no. 26
paper hearts and hands are representative of such crafts at mid-century. The gift of gloves on Valentine's Day may have risen from the play on the word G/LOVE or merely as a formal convention, a personal yet not too intimate gesture of affection. It is said that the gloves presented on Valentine's Day were to be worn on Easter Sunday. The final category of creations of the heart are those that are nothing more than an exercise resulting from the manipulation of materials, often for no other reason but for the sake of ornamentation. The tail of a wind-toy or a weathervane may be heart-shaped to better catch the wind. Heated iron is especially conducive to the curves of the heart lobes. Soundholes in musical instruments like the dulcimer and its ancestor, the scheitholt, are heart-shaped for aesthetic reasons only. We know that the heart has been a strong part of oral
It by post hampered courtship. The American handmade valentine developed after 1800 when magazines and newspapers printed sonnets and verses to be copied. Printed valentines, as we know them today, did not appear until after 1840. The origin of Valentine's Day, February 14, has roots as tenuous to confirm as those of the heart motif. The Roman St. Valentine, a friend to persecuted Christians, was martyred on February 14 in the year 270 A.D. Coincidentally the Feast (Festival) of the Lupercalia, a rite of spring honoring the birth of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, took place on February 15, until it was done away with along with many other Pagan rituals. It was replaced with a Christian celebration and given the name of the saint whose day was closest—St. Valentine. The first evidence of written valentine greetings occurs in the 14th century in England. In 1660, Samuel Pepys, the diarist refers to an exchange of valentines. Germany, Italy, and France no longer celebrate the day. Our country and England alone continue the tradition of February 14 as a day for lovers. Tokens and notes of endearment are found executed in almost every material, in predictable forms such as folded puzzle purses, papercuts and carvings and highly personalized idiosyncratic ones such as chip carvings or scrimshaw teeth. Publications such as Godey's Lady's Book and Harper's Weekly promoted the occasion by suggesting verses as well as cut paper projects for men and women. The woven 22
Figure 8. Catalogue no. 23
to