Valentine’s Day, like many holidays, is based on ancient rituals that have been changed to fit the Christian tradition. It is thought that the idea of a lover’s holiday started with the Roman celebration honoring Juno, the goddess of women and marriage. Feb. 14 was also the time of Lupercalia, a Roman celebration of spring and fertility.
By about A.D. 270, the church celebrated Valentine’s Day in honor of St. Valentinus. Legend says that he died for love, but not his own. He was sentenced to death because he performed forbidden marriage ceremonies for soldiers. The day of his execution, he sent a note to the young daughter of his jailer – a leaf with the pinpricked message, “From your Valentine.”
The first known card was a note written in the 1400s, but it was not until the mid-1600s that cards were common. Men made cards with handwritten notes and elaborate decorations, but left them unsigned. Printed cards were made by 1800; the best-known in America were by Esther A. Howland, who started her New England Valentine Co. in 1849.
| ON THE BLOCK Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions. Salt and pepper shakers, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol, gold trim, Ceramic Arts Studio, 4 inches, $20. Political button, “Minnesota Women for Humphrey,” black, pink and white, celluloid, 1954, 21/4 inches, $185. Roseville hanging planter, Gardenia pattern, ocher, embossed white flowers, green petals, 6 inches, $210. Holland Butter banner, graphic of two Dutch children standing on pound of butter, gold ground, 30 x 37 inches, $250. Celluloid dresser set, pearl-ized yellow, butterscotch, black trim, 1930s, 11 pieces, $310. Royal Doulton plate, “Mary Arden’s Cottage,” Shakespeare Series, 1922, 101/4 inches, $370. Amoeba-style cocktail table, free-form inset glass top, bleached ash and birch veneer, 1950s, 52 x 30 x 15 inches, $515. Boston &Sandwich glass candlestick, apple green, petal-form socket on columnar square-step base, 1850-65, 9 inches, $560. Steiff Red Riding Hood doll, pressed felt swivel head, black shoe-button eyes, red cape, 101/2 inches, $910. Appliqued quilt, Sunbonnet Sue, red and white, picket finch border, 1800s, 84 x 88 inches, $1,200. |
Times changed, and Valentines went from lacy declarations of love to brightly colored cards featuring cute children and animals. Teachers and students had special cards, often assembled from a book of cut-outs. Comic cards were made with insulting verses.
By the 1950s, Valentines included small ceramic figures and toys, usually with a special message and some red hearts. Any type of Valentine card or knickknack is collected today.
Phoenix Glass Co. was founded in 1880 in Monaca, Pa. The Love Birds pattern was designed in 1926 by Reuben Haley for Consolidated Lamp and Glass Co. of Coraopolis, Pa. The pattern, part of Consolidated’s line of art glass, was copied from a design by Rene Lalique, the famous French glassmaker. Haley also designed similar pieces for Muncie Pottery Co. of Muncie, Ind. Your vase may have been made by Phoenix Glass Co. The Depression forced Consolidated to close from 1933 to 1936. During those years, its molds were lent to Phoenix, which called its art-glass line “Reuben,” after the designer. But Phoenix’s art glass was made in different colors from Consolidated’s. The value of a Phoenix vase in the Love Birds pattern ranges from $50 to $175, depending on size and condition.
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