Latin American countries I read celebrate Valentine's day as the day of love and friendship. Quite fitting I think... In Guatemala it is known as the "Día del Cariño" (Day of the Affection).
In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Valentine's Day has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day.
In Pakistan the Jamaat-e-Islami political party has called for the banning of the holiday.[65] Despite this, the celebration is increasingly popular[65] and the florists expect to sell great amount of flowers, especially red roses.[72]
In most of South America the Día del amor y la amistad and the Amigo secreto ("Secret friend") are quite popular and usually celebrated together on the 14 of February (one exception is Colombia, where it is celebrated every third Saturday of September). The latter consists of randomly assigning to each participant a recipient who is to be given an anonymous gift (similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa).
Looking at the cultural and historical variations is quite fascinating ... of these cards below from former times I think the letter to Susanna is the one I covet.
Alas ... no-one penned me an epistle like this one so full of genuine devotion (well the print is so tiny who knows what is being said!) ... instead a few random heart-ful messages came via Twitter!!!
Such is life!
Actually it was a wonderful day ... up early ... bike ride to a fav cafe... reading the papers, thinking time.. an excellent meeting later on full of project possibilities... dentist ... oh yes that brought the mood down... came out with a numb nose, cheek and an eyelid that was quite twittery. Anyway things got better again!
Started thinking about a trip north in the autummn months. And managed to get a lot done!
So ... which of these would you covet? Or not!
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| Handwritten Valentine poem "To Susanna", (Cork, Ireland dated Valentine's Day, 1850). |
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| St Valentine's Day card, embossed and printed in colour, with silk panel and printed message "My Dearest Miss, I send thee a kiss", addressed to Miss Jenny Lane [or Lowe, or Love] of Crostwight Hall, Smallburgh, Norfolk, and inscribed on the reverse "Good Morrow Valentine" |
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| Unusual seascape Valentine, date unknown but probably pre-1900 |
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| Postcard by Nister, circa 1900 |
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| Richard Felton Outcault (January 14, 1863-September 25, 1928), Buster Brown |
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| Scan of a Valentine greeting card circa 1920. |
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| A pop-up Valentine, circa 1920, measuring 2" x 2 1/2". |
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| Anthropomorphic Valentine, circa 1940-1950 |
Wishing you all a happy "day of the Affection!"
7 comments:
Yes ! Happy day of affection Sophie! I like that twist on V-day ...Love, warmth, kindness, consideration, respect, should be an everyday practice!
I like how you celebrate your (every)day... Big hugs, j.
I like the proverb from Slovenia best. The idea that spring is at work under all of this snow is definitely heart warming. Today is the first mild day we have had in months, so maybe there is actually something to it.
great post sophie! great selection! happy valentine's day!
will you be my Valentine? Miss Sophie! Gorgeous cards.
Reading all the different customs actually made me think of what gets lost under the weight of crushing materialism. I started the post by googling Valentine's day images... curious ...would anything interesting come to light I wondered.
.... red undies, quite awful arrangements of red roses, factory chocolate... many images crass and devoid of sensuality... yet desirable enough things in essence. Bleak however the way most are presented.
Which is no doubt why the 'letter to Susanna' stood out... for the fact someone gave something genuine and worthy of being saved.
Why not a little more artistry on such occasions ...
funny thing is it can take less time, effort and cash to make an authentic gesture.
Im sure there were p[enty of artful gestures circulating yesterday ...in the blitz of redness we dont get to see much of that!
OH enough with the armchair philosophising ...Im off to get the day started...but not before i say
thank you Janis... a delightful, warm comment "from a fine girl"!
hugs back,
S
Sally... it was an intriguing slant and quite wonderful i agree ...the birds provided an interesting cultural image from there too!
Thank you,
S
Mlle Paradise ...
thank you my friend and may you enjoy the occasion!
Mary,
so sweet Mary... thank you kindly for popping in with this message.
Sun is shining... off I go!
Bye all!
S
i like the one with all the gold on it... so pretty...
thanks for popping in Em!
ciao bella,
S
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