St. Valentine’s Day Traced To Old
Roman Custom Dating To 270 A. D
During Revolutionary War
First Flurry Appeared
In U. S.
By STAFF WRITER
Saints and sinners alike have
helped Dan Cupid to weave a web
of romantic customs and historical
controversy around the origin of
St. Valentine’s Day.
^ The “romantic customs” are of
particular interest, since 1952 is
Leap Year — when the rules of
courtship can be side-tracked with
out notice. The “historical contro
versy” rages over these three ques
tions:
1. Who was the original St. Val
entine? 2. Why was February 14
When you think of prescrip
tions, think of VARNER’S—adv.
CO-ED
THEATRE
TODAY & FRIDAY
Starring
Dane Clark
and
Ben Johnson
Saturday
...with the steel*
fisted skipper of
a jinx ship!
Sun. & Mon.
* ★ ★ ★ ★
8* STAR, MUST'SEE
MUSICAL SPREE!
o oo
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''o^TSSoTooo^^
•tarring TONY MARTIN • JANET LEIfiH
IlMIA BtNAVEN • EBIIE IRACREN
ANN MILLER
wMilirfanUwrMCi'MI CMJIY'TInCMlUYUi
Tuesday & Wed.
horizon productions present
“WHEN I GROW
A-rnm-m
Rolowod through Eoglo Uol
—Also—
TWO CARTOONS
Now In Japan
SGT. RAY S. OWEN, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Burlin Owen, of
Lake Toxaway, has been returned
to Japan after eight months of
duty in Korea. Sgt. Owen has
been in the Marine corps for four
years and now serves with the
First Marine air wing.
chosen as St. Valentine’s Day? 3. i
Ilow did the Valentine custom j
come to America?
Apparently, St. Valentine’s Day |
has always been considered the best I
time for sweethearts to “pop the1
question.” Nevertheless, millions of
Valentines are exchanged each
year between friends and relatives,
as well as those for sweethearts,
wives, and husbands.
Like a sensitive barometer, their
colorful designs and sentimental
verses record the nation’s roman
tic temperature and its degree of
friendliness. Yet, comparatively lit
tle is known about how this quaint
old custom began.
Most scholars agree that St. Val
entine’s Day was named for a young
priest who refused to accept the
traditional gods of Rome. But sev
en different Valentines are listed
in the Calendar of Saints. So some
spoilsports will probably say. “It
was really six other guys!”
According to the experts, how
ever, St. Valentine was jailed for
his faith in Christianity. There he
cured the keeper’s daughter of
blindness, but was beheaded soon
afterwards. Following the execu
tion on February 14, 270 A. D., it
was learned he had thoughtfully
written a letter to console the lit
tle girl, signed “From Your Val
entine.”
This act of kindness fired the
imagination of people everywhere.
Tokens of friendship, which neither
implied nor encouraged a fluttery
heart, were still exchanged on St.
Valentines’ Day more than 1,000
years later, when diminutive Dan
Cupid finally took over.
Actually, the Romans had lavish
ly celebrated this date several cen
turies earlier, as the pagan Feast
of Lupercalia. The ceremony itself
blossomed from a pseudo-scientific
belief that the birds of Italy began J
mating on February 14.
As the years passed, this willy
nilly approach to romance was bit
terly opposed by church authorities
--who wanted to substitute the
name of a guardian saint for these
impetuous young people. Despite
the wisdom of this alternative, it
was never as popular as taking a j
chance on love. So the pagan Love I
Festival continued to flourish.
It was during Revolutionary war I
days that the first flurry of Valen
tines broke out in America. Records
show, however, that sweethearts
had been exchanging Valentines
for over 300 years by then.
It took a Frenchman, naturally,
to get the ball rolling. According
to the British Museum, where it
is now on display, the oldest Sweet
heart Valentine existing was de
signed by the Duke of Orleans in
1415. Imprisoned in the Tower of
London after the battle of Agin
Clemson
THEATRE
Friday & Sat.
he theI
phantom
,a<h of justice?
Lash La Rue '
Fuzzy St.John
fSaijM
phium
Sun. & Mon.
Alan Ladd and Robert Preston
In
<<!Whi*pering Smith”
A BIG TWO-GUN WESTERN
IN TECHNICOLOR
court, he'bribed a guard to smug
gle it out.
It was a cute trick, and other
Fx*ench gallants soon set out with
scissors and pastepot to improve on
this idea. During the reign of
I Louis XIV, handmade Valehtines
reached a peak in elegance and
sheer craftsmanship that was un
equalled until modern graphic arts
processes were developed.
Dan Cupid appeared on Valen
tines for the first time. Gilt paper,
jewels, gaily colored ribbons, cut
out hearts, and expensive Venetian
lace were also used to create un
usual effects.
Here in America, colonial sweet
hearts improvised and made their
simple pen-and-ink Valentines as
best they could. This continued un
til 1840, when Esther Howland de
signed and printed a batch of Eng
lish-style Valentines for her de
lighted classmates at Mt. Holyoke
College for Women.
It was Leap Year—Just 28 Leap
Years ago, in fact—and the unex
pected demand encouraged her to
“open shop’ on a larger scale. Af
ter her college days ended, Miss
Howland became the head of a
firm specializing in Valentines.
SUCCESSFUL FISH
SUFFER IS HELD
President Of Shriners Issues
Regrets To All Who j
Waited In Line
Over 500 persons attended the
fish supper last Friday evening at
the Masonic temple. The event was
sponsored by the Transylvania
Shrine club, with members of the
Order of the Eastern Star assisting.
W. C. Bangs, Shrine club presi
dent, says this week that h6' is ex
tremely sorry that many people
had to stand in line for awhile, but
the situation was due to circum
stances beyond the control of mem
bers of the club.
He expresses sincere apprecia
tion to all who waited, and he says
that every effort is being made to
eliminate the trouble before an
other supper is held. It is under
stood that the power line into the
building was not large enough to
pull two deep-well fryers and only
one could be used.
In expressing appreciation to all
Mother Of Local
Woman Dies In S. C
Funeral services for Mrs. Ansel
West, 56, were held Saturday aft
ernoon at 5:00 o’clock at the Moun
tain Creek Baptist church at An
derson, S. C.
Among the survivors is a daugh
ter, Mrs. George McCloud, the for
mer Katherine West, of Brevard.
firms who generously donated nice
prizes to persons selling the most
tickets, Henry R. Henderson, who
was in charge of ticket sales, an
nounces the following winners and
prizes received:
Clayton Gardner, who sold the
highest number of tickets, a GE
electric alarm clock from the Elec
tric Service company.
Roy Porter, second, received the
Evans table cigarette lighter, giv
en by Varner’s drug store.
Herschel Townley, third place, se
lected the Ronson cigarette light
er, given by McFee’s Jewelry shop.
John F. DeBord was the fourth
place winner and he chose the meal
ticket, given by Gaither’s restau
rant.
Beta Club Plans Valentine Dance
In Hut On Saturday, February 16th
Charter Night Is
Observed At Carr’s
Hill Baptist Church
Charter night was observed at
[ Carr’s Hill Baptist church Wednes
day night with cards of membership
presented to the following members
of troop 14, which is sponsored by
the church:
Morris McGaha, Lynn McGaha,
Joe McGaha, Jack McKelvey, Billy
McKelvey, John Bolick, John Hen
ry Heath, John Allen McCrary, Eu
gene McCrary, Walter Raxter, Wal
ter Cantrell, Keith Parker, Boots
Davis and Leroy Landreth.
Troop leaders are: Earl Parker,
scoutmaster; Perry Raxter, assis
tant scoutmaster; Quentin Cantrell,
Walter Cantrell, and Phillip McGa
ha, troop committeemen. The Rev.
jTheo Rose is pastor of Carr’s Hill
I church.
—
Money still talks these days but
! all it says is “goodbye.”
Time Is 7 O’clock; AH Stu
dents Are Invited To
Attend Event
The Beta club is sponsoring &,
“Valentine Dance” at the hut Feb
ruary 16, at 7:30.
The entertainment will include
Ray Talley, The Blue-Zettes, FFA
string band, and square and round
dances.
The proceeds of the dance will
be used to send delegates to the
state convention. For refreshments,
cookies will be free and punch will
be five cents for two.
The entertainment committee is
as follows: Hattie Bolick, Doris
Ferguson and John Edward Cox. ,
The refreshment committee in
cludes: Joan Teague, Kimsey Jack
son, Roberta Harris, and Betty
Shipman. Kathleen Gaines and Mar
garet Johnson are on the advertise
ment committee. The decoration
committee is Imogene Dickson,
Betty Jo Byrd, Donald Greene and
Patricia Parker.
Attention...
ALL BOYS AND GIRLS WHO HAVE
MAKE THEN SAFER FOR NIGHT RIDING
The Monroe Wilson Post
Of The American Legion
Is Conducting A Bike
Safety Campaign
Cycling (n the Dark 'WithSafety
^MifcTrriM.1 - .I _- _.
Concerned about the growing night-time accident toll, the
members of the local post of the legion have started a “Scotchlite
a-Bike” campaign in which it will equip every bicycle in the coun
ty with the reflective material, brilliantly visible to motorists at
night when headlight beams strike its surface. With white “Scotch
lite” on the handlebars and front fork and red “Scotchlite” on the
rear fender, bicycles are plainly visible at long distances.
Photo at left shows how bicycle appears in daylight; right, the
same bicycle as it appears to a motorist in the dark. The same ma
terial, now used on highway traffic signs, was used for airport
markers and harbor buoys during the war. The reflectorized material
can be cemented to any surface.
GET YOUR BIKE
Fixed FREE Saturday
—-o
BREVARD And COMMUNITY
American Legion Memorial building from 10 o’clock on Saturday monv>
ing until 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon.
ROSMAN
Hogsed Motor company from 10 until 12 o’clock.
PISGAH FOREST
Pisgah Forest school house from 10 until 12 o’clock.
PENROSE
Penrose school house from 1:30 in the afternoon until 3:00 o’clock.
In addition to making the bicycle* *afer for night riding with “Scotchmen the legionnaires will also register all bicycles in the town
and county by name, serial number, make, etc., and these records will prove very valuable when bikes are stolen. Boys and girls bring
ing their bikes on Saturday for the “Scotchlite” are urged to have them thoroughly clean . . . it’s silver tape for the front ... red for
the rear ... and all FREE!
THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY
Ecusta Paper Corporation
SUBSIDIARY OF OLIN INDUSTRIES, INC.
_:_ /