THOUGHTS OF OLD VALENTINES, PROPOSED NEW ONES

V~alentine's Day! Some of the old, fold-out, stand-up, three dimensional Valentines are making their way back to the market via Hallmark. Good. Bring back some of the other good things we once had but lost somewhere in the Sixties.

I recently acquired from my sister and old Valentine that Grandma Bell gave to her way back in the early part of the second decade of this century. It has a windmill and dov~es for the background. An inch forward and down is the familiar Cupid with his bow and arrows and a handful of roses. Another such forward and down feature is a bowl of violets and then the little honeycombed bit of red tissue paper that applies just the right amount of tension to keep the whole thing unfolded and standing upright. On the browned-with-age back there are none of those little black bars of differing sizes that are on everything today. It simply says, "Made in Germany."

The Germans are so good at making things such as these beautiful Valentin~es, toys, Christmas cards, intricate clocks with many moving parts, etc. "Made in Germany" is a notification that the thing has been put together with great care and precision. If labels had blood, "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in Mexico," would blush with such shame you wouldn't be able to read them.

I found some Valentines this year that folded out and stood up in 3-D. They were much like the old one I described above. I looked~~ on the back and, in addition to the row of little black bars, it said, "From the Hallmark Historical Collection, design taken from the original nineteenth-century German mechanical card." Why wasn't I surprised?

I suppose Lou kept the Valentine all these years because a bought Valentine was somewhat of a rarity for us then. Not that we didn't send them. Oh my, we sent Valentines or handed them to nearly everyone we knew. But they were hand-made from wallpaper with snippets of lace and ribbon we might have or pieces of paper lace doilies. We loved everyone and said so inside the sentimental tokens.

Wallpaper sample books were ours for the asking from Sears Roebuck (Ah, Sears Roebuck. I get misty eyed when I think about the demise of their big, fat catalog). Sometimes we got Valentines made from the very same wallpaper sample we'd used to make one for the sender. But that was all right. The world was simpler then and everyone did seem to love everyone else or at least tolerate them until I can't say "until all hell broke loose in the Sixties." I think I should say that "until I got older and learned that all hell had been breaking loose somewhere in the world since evacuation of the Eden Garden."

Love and sentiment do not die though. I suppose they run along on one of those parallel worlds the New Agers talk about.

I made myself a Valentine recently. There are no hearts, Cupids or forget-me-nots. It is just a few lines I clipped from the local daily newspaper and fastened to my bulletin board. It reads, "The (City) Council will also consider approval of an engineering services contract with Blattner and Associates Inc. for a foot bridge at Arena Park." Oh, let it be one to replace the wooden arched bridge underneath which "my" troll lived. In the same place too.

I don't know exactly where the troll went when the bridge was demolished but I tried to tell him in Trollese about another not-so-faraway wooden bridge where he might abide for a while until some forward movement might be made for a replacement of the bridge over the creek where red-winged black birds and meadow larks hung out, where the muskrat made a silver vee as he traveled up and down the always flowing stream, where the water murmured over the little limestone shelf, where the elderberry bush blossomed and perfumed the air and the golden-colored flowers up and down the south bank put on a show every fall. I grow sentimental but that's Valentine's Day for you.

Old Saint Valentine, he probably knew little about Cupids and hearts and forget-me-nots, and trolls. He was one of the three Roman martyr~s who were killed because of their beliefs and a feast day was set up for them on Feb. 14. How it became our modern Valentine's Day is not clear.

Blattner and Associates, (are you German?) be my Valentine and put the bridge back where it was and make it as ~durable and fancy as a German toy, clock, Valentine or bridge.

REJOICE!