History Bytes: Celebrating Valentine’s Day

February 10, 2016

Newporters have exchanged Valentine’s cards for years as evidenced by the many 19th and 20th century cards in the Newport Historical Society’s collection. One notable feature of select cards in the collection is the pansy flower. Illustrations of pansies, also known as heart’s-ease, are a feature of many Valentine’s greetings of this era. According to the 1841 book The Poetry of Flowers by Frances Osgood, pansies were considered a symbol of thought (as in “think-of-me”) derived from the French noun pensée.

In 1929 the Trinity Church branch of the Girls’ Friendly Society, under the direction of Miss Varnum, hosted a Valentine party at the parish house on High Street. Activities included a Valentine post office, musical chairs, treasure hunts and pinning on of hearts.

To learn about Newport’s connection to the origins of Valentine’s cards, a tradition that largely began in the 19th century, click here to read this 2012 History Byte.

Above: a 20th century Valentine’s card from the NHS collection. Below: a late 19th card from the Society’s collection that features pansies along with a clip from the 1929 “Newport Mercury” story discussing the girls’ Valentine’s party.

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