{"id":43,"date":"2025-09-28T11:55:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianregency.com\/blog\/?p=43"},"modified":"2025-09-28T11:55:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:55:38","slug":"reflections-on-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/28\/reflections-on-valentines-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Valentine’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day in Regency England<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cards were already a popular custom for all classes by regency times. Most were home-and-handmade from plain to fancy, depending on what the sender could afford. Fancier ones might include gilt-edged paper and real lace (paper lace didn\u2019t come into production until later in the century). Woodcuts or copperplate engraved cards existed but this process was still hand-done and thus time-consuming, so mass-produced cards didn\u2019t come on the market until the 1820s. This coincided with the standardization of the postal system, making sending cards cheaper.<\/span><\/p>

\"Fire<\/a><\/div>\n

For those who had trouble with a rhyme, there were publications called \u201cValentine writers,\u201d chock full of ready-made verses for gentlemen to use. Some even contained poetical replies for ladies to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s Valentine Writer; or True Lover\u2019s Notebook<\/em>; and Kemmish\u2019s Annual and Universal Valentine Writer, or the Lover\u2019s Instructor<\/em> were a couple published in England in the late 18th<\/sup> century.<\/span><\/p>\n

A sample of a lady\u2019s reply to a gentleman\u2019s verse, from Everybody\u2019s Valentine Writer<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n

To a Gentleman<\/span><\/p>\n

With proverbs, sir, I see you play; <\/span><\/p>\n

With proverbs, too, I answer nay\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Language of Flowers<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n

Although special significance of flowers became most popular in Victorian times, lovers\u2019 messages through flowers was already seen in regency times. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire , described a \u201csecret language of flowers,\u201d when her letters home were published posthumously in 1763. This language was a form of Turkish and Persian poetry called selam, which used words that rhymed with flower names. In 18th<\/sup> century Europe this developed into giving flowers sentimental significance (ie. a rose symbolizing love).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Various and changing meanings were ascribed to different flowers, but you wouldn\u2019t want to receive a striped carnation in 1819, which according to Madame Charlotte de la Tour, who published a dictionary on flower language entitled [sic] Le Language des Fleur<\/em>, meant \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I must say no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nor would you want to receive a yellow carnation, which meant \u201cYou disappoint me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Better would be a red rose from your true love; or a pansy (\u201cyou occupy my thoughts\u201d); or perhaps an arum, which meant ardor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Art of the Valentine Card<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The reputedly <\/em>oldest v<\/em>alentine card in <\/em>existence is o<\/em>wned by th<\/em>e <\/em>British <\/em>Royal <\/em>Mail. I<\/em>t <\/em>dates <\/em>from <\/em>1790.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Its four points open up to reveal a love poem, but the outside words are already quite enchanting:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>\"Valentine<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dear the Heart which you behold,
\n<\/em><\/em><\/em>Will break when you the same unfold,
\n<\/em>Even so my heart with lovesick pain,
\n<\/em>Sure wounded is and breaks in twain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Evening Independent, Feb. 14, 1977<\/span><\/p>\n

The Year\u2019s Festivals, Helen Philbrook Patten, 1903<\/span><\/p>\n

The Quest of the Quaint, Virginia Robie, 1916<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/archive\/1947\/02\/15\/1947_02_15_021_TNY_CARDS_000207379<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/documents\/11feb2011-aac.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Originally posted 2012-02-13 10:00:00. <\/small><\/p>

\"Listen<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day in Regency England Cards were already a popular custom for all classes by regency times. Most were home-and-handmade from plain to fancy, depending on what the sender could afford. Fancier ones might include gilt-edged paper and real lace (paper lace didn\u2019t come into production until later in the century). Woodcuts or copperplate engraved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10,4,1,28],"tags":[30,29,568,31],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-holiday","category-regency-romance","category-uncategorized","category-valentines-day","tag-language-of-flowers","tag-regency-england","tag-valentines-day","tag-valentines-day-cards"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}