Nancy H. Vest, Writer

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in Gladys Martin Family

A 1914 Valentine

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My grandparents, Joel Daniel MARTIN and Florrie Jane THOMAS MARTIN, became engaged in January 1914 and married in June of that year.

Florrie sent Daniel a Valentine that year, likely the first romantic valentine she’d ever bought.

Photograph of the front of the large valentine (about 8x10 inches). In the center is a young woman sitting in a chair looking lovingly at something, and there is an angel peeking out from behind the chair. The woman and angel are mounted on top of a white doily that has and angel at the top of it and a heart at the bottom. The doily is mounted on a background of red flowers, gold leaves, and a swirly green designed paper. The entire card is paper.

Front of Valentine

 

 

A poem entitled Won't You Be My Valentine. At the bottom of the poem is the year 1914 in my grandmother's hand.

Romantic poem from inside

 

An embossed and ragged envelope which shows where my grandmother addressed it, and a notation in her hand about it being from the year they married.

Envelope for the valentine

 

My grandparents were tenant farmers and lived in many houses over their life together. They carried few things with them from house to house besides their kids! These valentines, and the letters Daniel and Florrie exchanged when they were courting, were carried with them through all those years. The envelopes are tattered and torn, but the letters are still quite readable.

Copyright © 2017  Nancy H. Vest   All Rights Reserved

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Comments

  1. Jessica says

    February 11, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    So cute! This is why I save stuff like this. I hope one day my grandchildren will come across it and be inspired. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Nancy H. Vest says

      February 13, 2017 at 1:12 pm

      I keep stuff like that, too, for the same reason. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Sara says

    February 11, 2017 at 4:23 pm

    Very neat! <3

    Reply
    • Nancy H. Vest says

      February 13, 2017 at 1:12 pm

      Thanks, Sara!

      Reply
  3. Mike says

    February 11, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    Wow! That is insanely cool. I can’t believe how great of condition those are in!

    Reply
    • Nancy H. Vest says

      February 13, 2017 at 1:14 pm

      It IS amazing they are in such good condition. They moved 20 times in about 15 years, yet my grandma kept them safe.

      Reply
  4. Reuven says

    March 8, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    Very sweet and such a high level of descriptive writing in 1914.

    Reply
    • Nancy H. Vest says

      March 9, 2017 at 10:36 am

      It is especially sweet considering that my grandmother was not a lovey-dovey person. She was quite smitten with my grandfather, though. Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  5. Suzan Martin says

    November 19, 2017 at 1:14 am

    It’s the difficult life many women lived back in those days that made them seem not to be such lovey-dovey people as they aged. Life happened, life was very difficult for many in the South after all of the Wars, then The Great Depression. Some people react differently to life and emotions, but she obviously had a sweet loving soul and a capacity to love her family and your grandfather, it’s quite obvious as she kept this beautiful Valentine! Fantastic you have such wonderful heirlooms. Thank you for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Nancy H. Vest says

      November 19, 2017 at 11:54 am

      My grandma kept many things, and she lived with my family so I inherited many items. I surely didn’t see her as lovey-dovey, but she must have been to have given and saved that card. And, yes, their lives were hard. Harder than anything we can imagine now.

      Reply

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