The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-11
FLOWERS TO BE
 GENERALLYUSED
 VALENTINES DAY

Custom, more potent than any other authority known to man has decreed that on St. Valentines Day which in the Roman and Angelical calendars falls on February 14th, young folks of both sexes and older ones too, for that matter, should exchange missives, mental in which the foibles of the re- cefVer or the love of the sender are set forth. Although practically every custom has come into being for some reason, no reason can be found fox this celebration or observance
 It was probably named after the good Pope Valentine who wrote no lowe song or sentimental poems nor who was ever accused of casting eyes at any of the Roman maidens On the other hand the Pope was of a very serious turn of mind and because he chung to his faith during the Claudian While there he cured the keepers daughter of blindness and was then beat with a club and later beheaded Another Valentine was a bishop in rhetor1c1an, but choked to death by swallowing a fishbone. In Italy and Germany, the people pray to him for a cure for epilepsy.
 It is known that on the 14th of February, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, in honor of Pan and Juno- On this day the young men men ana young women would write
 
 place them in a box. The men would draw from a. box containing the girls names while the young women would draw from the other box In this way each would have two names but the man would be truer to the Valentine which he drew than the one who drew him.
 Origin Of Days Name.
 In the ancient language g and V were often confused and it may have been thht the word galantin, which meant "a lover of the fair sex," was confused with the name Valentine and so the bishop was established as patron saint of sweethearts and lov- CTS. In their writing it has been found that Sir Walter Scot, Shakespeare and other authors used the name and thought of St. Valentines day. In Ophel1a's song, the following is found: Good morrow 'tis St. Valentine day, All in the morn betide,
 And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine"
 From this it has been presumed that the first man a girl meets and speaks to on the 14th of February is her Val entine.
 Although the custom of writing let terS or sending cards has become ex- tremely popular, the up-to-date swain sends his thoughts by means of dainty flowers in pretty and novel boxes.
 Valentine Floral Messages.
 John Reck and Son, Main street are showing some very elab- crate boxes, as containers for Va1en- tine floral messages. Dainty band boxes for old fashioned nosegays, and red heart shaped boxes which are splendid contained for a nice bunch | of violets are much in demand. Some | thing new for the Valentine party | are shown in the form of kiddie cups, | consisting of paper cups trimmed with | large cup1dS, armed with bows and ar | rows- Several flowers or small table | ferns are placed in the cups and are | used as favorS.
 And now it has become a custom for men to send these rem mernbrances not | only to their sweethearts and wives but | also to their mothers and what mother | would not like to have a pretty pot of | daffodils or hyacinths as a gentle re- | hinder that she will always have a | foremost place in the heart of her son or daughter. The public in invited to | visit the Reck Shop and inspect that | elaborate assortment of flowers for | day.