The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-02-08
VALENTINES DAY rs NEAR.
Pretty Love Messages Now Ready
For Men and MaidsA Time
". 81 Honored Custom.

\ fSE ", AGAA chO ttppIOdcug tOl ~. fulCn-
tines day in the windows Of some
OF the stores are displayed many val
I &entmnes, some very festive, somo very
beautiful and nearly all containing
sentiments of love and good wishes,
while some contain rhymes and pic
lures that are not in the least COM
plimentary. OF course the recipient
will not. feel insulted when he receiv-
ses one Of the latter kind, for it is the
privilege Of many, especially the
younger folk, to send them to their
friends Of Valentines day, strictly
Tor amusement. Occasionally "Young
America dislikes his teacher and
feels that he can vent his spite by
sending a valentine with exaggerated
spetacles or extra rounded Bour-
bon nose, but even here the youngster
really deep in his heart has no malice
and would be the first person to re-
sent an injury to his unpopular
schoolmaster, who may have correct
cd him on the previous day.
st. Valentines day comes next
Thursday and most of the fun on
that day will be confined to the
younger element Of human society.
The sending out Of comic pictures
and the ringing Of door bells will be
decidedly the order Of the day. Time
worn custom, mans restraining pow
.er, has decreed that on st. Valen-
tines day young folks Of both sexes
and some Of the frivolous older ones,
too, for that matter, should exchange
missives and epistles, either comic
or sentimental, depending entirely
upon their mood, in which the foibles
of the receiver are set forth in prose
or verse, enhanced in value by the ac-
companying eblematic pictures.
There is no custom without rea-
son, but the reason for the observance
Of this day is not to be found in any
thing pertaining to the life Of the
good saint whose name endorses the
custom. He wrote no love songs nor
drew any picture Of forget-me-nots or
Irish policemen. No one accuses him
Of casting Sleeps eyes at any Roman
maiden or condemning to Jail a poor
innocent school teacher for having
long hair. He was Bishop of Rome,
who clung to his faith amidst perse-
cutions during the reign Of the Clau-
dian Emperors, and was himself TAX
on to Jail, where he cured his keep
er's daughters Of blindness. Cupid
was never accused Of curing blind
ness, for his chief function is to
bring on his votaries the most, not
abject, but entrancing, blindness.
Nor was there anything comic OF
sentimental in the fate of the benevo-
lent st. Valentine when the miracle
was made known to the authorities.
His fate was to be beaten with clubs
and then beheaded, and to-day his
relics lie in the Church of st. PraXe-
des, in Rome, where gate, known as
the Porta Valentine, or Valentines
gate, stands at the present time.
In the days when communications
were written with quill pens and
the postage for conveying them was
extremely high valentines sent
through the postoi1ices were expen-
sive luxuries. The amorous swain of
those days had to content his lady
love with thick sheets Of gilt-edged
paper, the first page being adorned
with Cupid done in gilt, his wings,
however, still being decidedly in evi-
dcnce. Tie was gummed on 80 as to
stick. ard beneath lay, as IN invari-
able surprise, a verse telling Of the
love that was in accord with the
violets blue and the roses hue. 1t
made no difference, however, what
message the verse conveyed and how
expensive the postage proved, for
both lover and beloved were serenely
happy, regardless Of surrounding diff
ficnlties, even if he did blush more
crimson than the red rose on meeting
her next day, and she appeared bliss
fully unconscious of having received
a valentine.
With the reduction Of the once
heavy postage and modern improve
ments in the art Of printing a great
change has come about in the type Of
valentines. A generation ago favor
ed love token in which both the
man and the woman we're arrayed in
truly peacock style. The more yel-