Shoebox Valentines

~ February ~

The month of hearts and flowers

and special valentines.

Sometime last year and again this past month,

 I happened upon some vintage valentines

that charmed my heart.

They brought back memories of the

valentine boxes of my youth.

Any box with a removable lid worked,

but ours were usually a shoebox or oatmeal container.

Mother helped us cut an opening 

slot in the lid and then cover

the box with shiny gift wrap paper.

She showed us how to make crepe paper ruffles 

to trim the sides and gave us delicate

paper doilies and ribbons to decorate the top.

Construction paper hearts accented with silver, gold, or red glitter

were the final adornments for our annual

February Valentine Box.

You remember ~ the pretty boxes that we took 

to school for that all important 

Valentine's Day Party.

Our boxes were filled to the brim with these simple 

flat valentines from our classmates.

Black rotary phones were the norm

in households of the 1950s,

but mechanical valentines were the special

ones found among the cards in the classroom valentine box.

Mechanical valentines, those with moveable parts,

were popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Do you see the tiny metal brad 

at the top of the fence post?

It's the mechanism that allows the horse

to jump over the fence.

This very clever one reveals a message in

the window on the building on the dock.

Notice the play on words and 

watch the eyes as 

the message begins to appear.

"I'm going to "SEA" 

if 

you'll be mine.

Honeycomb popups were also 

popular in my youthful years.

Tell me .   .   .

What are your favorite valentine memories

from your childhood days?

Do you remember fancy valentine boxes

and Valentine's Day parties?


This is a post from the archives that
 I brought back just for the new linky party

Thoughts of Home on Thursday

Click the link and join me for the fun.  
The hostesses are offering a great give away.