The star. (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1874-1875, 1875-01-28
However, the old fashion has passed

| however, the OLD 1aSnlon mas passed
away, and valentines are now very ella
borate things, employing thousands o
skillful wOrkmen in their manufacture
They serve as the covers of all sorts O.
costly presents, and some of them are
real works of art. Clever.designers are
constantly employed in the invention o.
new combinations, pleasing effects Of
grouping or color, and whimsical sur
prises. The most careful labors ol
draughtsmen, lithographers, wooden.
gravers, painters, color-printers, card.
board, artificial flower and feather max.
ers are spent upon them, to say nothing
silk, silver and glass. Even the tropical
| forests OF Brazil and the depths of the
sea are ransacked for fresh materials.
There is one firm in London which has
three hundred and siXty-eight different
kinds Of valentines. The cheapest are
two cents each,and the finest cost nearly
sixty dollars. All are pretty, and some
are magnificent. One is called "Love's
Photograph" A tiny mirror is hidden
beneath a bunch OF flowers, and some
dear girl finds that the reflection of her
own face is your loves photograph.
There are true lovers knots painted on
the softest satin; birds of bright plumage
under gauze; girls in silver frames; pa
per flowers which bloom when the valen
line is opened and close when it 8 shut;
more paper flowers hidden behind
screens OF silver and in little wicker
baskets, with exotic flowers painted by
hand on the finest silk and framed in sill
yer lace.
No florist ever succeeded better than
the modern valentine. maker does in put
ting together the prettiest oolors. Blush
roses and forget-me nots; camelias, with
rich, dark green leaves; lilies of the val
ley, water lilies, ferns and pausies are
combined with wondrous degree Of
taste and skill. Sometimes the yalen-
tine is the miniature Of a transformation
scene in a theater. 1t is folded and un-
folded by an ingenious arrangement,
which reveals q garden, with a flock Of
birds flying over it, and lake of mirror
glass, with swan upon its shining sur
lace.
Sometimes, too, the flowers are neither
painted nor made of paper or muslin.
Far away in Brazil, there is large
convent, in which the sedate nuns make
gay artificial flowers entirely out Of the
feathers OF the gorgeous birds that haunt
the forests of South America. I can not
give you an idea of how rich and lus-
trous they are. More than this, marine
flowers gathered from the bottom of the
Mediterranean Sea are used IN valen-
tines, and real birds are quite common.
AS Lucy opens the box that comes ior
her with whole string of postage-stamps
uponit it is possible that she will find
the cunningest of humming-birds in a
little nest, holding a message in it's beak.
Not the picture Of one, mind you, but
real one, that has been caught and stuffed
for the valentine-maker.
The latest fashion in valentines is to
combine them with useful articles. A
lace or pearlLhandled fan, costing sixty
dollars, is secreted beneath flowers and
notices and Cupids. A fine silk neck
tie, for y gentleman or boy, is wrapped
in white gauze, with the tender senti-
sentiment: Through cloud and sun
shine l am thine" Articles of dress or
jewelry often are enclosed. Sometimes
q smoking-cap, or pair OF embroidered
slippers. The descriptive catalogue OF
MIR. Rimmel, the London perfumer in
cludes valentines containing Jadenise
ornamental hair-pins, cravats, pincush-
ions, chateline bottles, brooches, gold
watch trinkets, lockets, turquoise and
garnet rings, silver 1iligree brooches,
earrings and bracelets, head-dresses
and double smelling-bottles. Then, too,
there are musical valentines in the form
OF glove and handkerchief or jewel
cases. One magnificent affair costs for
ty dollars. 1t is made of pale blue silk,
and trimmed with gilt. At one side is a
a place tor handkerchiefs, with two
beautiful smellng-bottles in the middle.
AS the lid is raised. q musical-bOx, hid
den underneath, plays tavoIte air,
such as, "Then you'll remember me-" or
an air from an opera.
am not sure that the new custom of
making expensive presents is. better
than the old one Of writing d loye-letter,
and it certainly is not proof of greater
affection in the senders.
A pleasant improvement might be
made upon both the old and new GUS
toms without sacrificing the observance
their own valentines, during the long
winter evenings. All the necessary ma
terials may be purchased for twenty-five
or thirty cents at a stationer's store.
Suitable designs are to be found in many
books, and some tinsei, crayons, water
colors, and lace paper would enable clev-
er young fingers to produce very pretty
things. There might, for instance, be
simple Grecian border around a sheet of
lace-paper, inciosed within this, lily, a
rose, or some illuminated verses. De-
calcomanie would do very well, in case
the valentine-makeEcould not draw; or,
ed to the service. A red autumn waif
or two, carefully dried. pressed, and
mounted on tinted paper, and surround
ed by wreath OF ivy, would be pretty.
Or one might make something lovely out
of very delicate grasses, mosses, and
lichens, arranging them at the head of
the paper, leaving space for letter be-
meath. This would call for tasteful
box.envelope. A little care, taste and
patience would work wonders with the
simplest materials.
Valentines OF this kind would be more
highly priced by sincere friend, too,
than the finest productions of the pro-
fessional valentine maker. At the same
time, their preparation would afford you
many hours of amusement, and exercise
in the use of color and form that would
be profitable to you in countless ways.
st. Nicholas for February.
A large number Of valuable papers,
that had been charred apparently to a
mass during the Commu-
mist rule in Paris, have been deciphered
by Raphelot. He first severed the leaves
by cutting The backs of the books and
imnlersing the mass in water, and then
subjecting it to tolerably high temper
ature in hot-air stove. The leaves,
thus loosened from each other by the ra-