Sending valentines was not just for the romantic or children

My first thought on seeing this ancestral notice was of the beautiful old lacy valentines in Mrs. R.’s collection. Unfortunately, I haven’t found them. Could I have sold them as they had no family names?

These were in the collection of postcards. The one on the left (below) is addressed to Miss Marjorie Ritchie from Your Cousin, Isabelle, sent from Lindsay, Feb. 13, 1914. The mail must have moved pretty quickly in those days, even for one cent. Marjorie would have been four-and-a-half and Isabelle, daughter of Amy Edge and Tom Firth, one-and-a-half.



The lovely butterfly and lace heart (above, right) was addressed to Miss Dorothy Ritchie from Herb, and was written in Bagot, Manitoba, in 1915. Herb was her dad’s youngest brother who had gone west several years before this. He apologizes for not having written for some time because he has been very busy, especially socially, it appears. He also sends Dorothy birthday wishes. She would have celebrated her fourth birthday the previous day.

This happy fellow (right) was addressed to Mrs. R. C. Robinson, Durham Memorial Hospital, Feb. 12, 1937, with love from (cousin) Belle McGirr.

It recognized the birth of William David on the 7th and offered best wishes “to you and your wee man.” It also scolded the Sun Times for being lax in publishing the birth announcement which she had sent. The cost of postage had doubled in 20 years.

I see that sending valentines was not just a romantic or a children’s activity.

Ruth Anne Hollands Robinson
February, 2021