How to Love like a Victorian
Valentine’s Day approaches, and whilst today this conjures images of red satin hearts, boxes of chocolates and cheesy cards, the Victorians had a very different approach to the sending and receiving of favours…
Vinegar Valentines
The tradition of vinegar valentines saw recipients receiving thin, cheaply printed cards – often featuring insulting imagery and a short poetic quip pointing out their physical or personality flaws. To add insult to injury, at that time, the payment of sending such a card was on the receiver not the sender!
The examples above show how the caricature designs were often used to accentuate physical features to represent ‘undesirable’ personality traits, such as being nosey or reading all day long! Even in the more optimistic and romantic cases, Vinegar Valentines would be considered uncanny, gaudy and downright creepy by today’s standards.
Feeling inspired by the savagery of the Victorians? Revive the tradition and send your own Vinegar Valentine – check out the sassy quotes from our Brunel range.
Sweetheart Pin Cushions
In later years, a more uplifting and sentimental tradition emerged as sailors and soldiers would create decorative pin cushions to send home to loved ones.
Many of them carried images of ships or specific regiments of the armed forces. The cushions are decorated with detail and care. They include embroidery, and sequins and glass beads stuck into the cushion with pins.
We have two sweetheart cushions that feature the RMS Baltic and RMS Celtic. They need extensive conservation work to stabilize them and bring out the vibrancy of their colours once again.
You can support or give the gift of their restoration through our Adopt an Artefact scheme, the perfect alternative valentines gift for history lovers!
The Language of Flowers
Feeling more romantic? Perhaps a more palatable Victorian Valentine tradition was the communication of love through floriography, the hidden language of flowers. Each variety carried its own set of detailed meanings, allowing senders to communicate tailored, more caring messages with loved ones as the Illustrated Language of Flowers (1858) asserted that:
‘The flowers in silence seem to breathe such thoughts as language cannot tell’.
Far less coarse than the vinegar valentines the level of detail in floriography allowed senders to mix and match flowers to create unique combinations and communicate their feelings delicately, subtly and beautifully.
Have a hidden message for a loved one this Valentine’s Day? Say it with flowers with our own floriography range!
