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For the Love of V-Day! Part 1
It’s
February! You all know what that means, right? (No, I am not meaning the Super
Bowl. Though in honor of that lovely American past time, be sure to check out
some of my favorite Super Bowl commercials here.) No, February means something even
bigger and better than a football game. I would say I am addressing the
coolness of Leap Year, but I’m not meaning that either. Instead I am talking
about Valentine’s Day!
I
love Valentine’s Day. It is one of my favorite made up holidays. I know what
you must be thinking, “You’re a girl. Of course you love this holiday.” But I
don’t like it for the reasons you may be thinking. I’ve never been one for
sappy romantic gestures on V-Day on account that those kinds of things have never
really happened for me. Don’t feel sorry for me though, because I have a ton of
retro cool Valentine’s memorabilia that holds a more special place in my heart
than all the flowers and chocolates in the world! Since the holiday is a few
weeks away I thought I’d share a series of posts about some of my favorite memories
of the holiday of love, and wearing a lot of reds and pinks.
Growing
up my parents really believed in making things special for every holiday both
big and small. I grew up really sick with a genetic disorder so they really
wanted to make sure that every moment counted. So on Valentine’s Day my mom and
I would make Valentines for family members and it was always just the best. One
year, in 1985, my mom gave me a set of actual already-made Valentine cards in a
stationary set and I loved them so much that they never really got sent out to
anyone. I thought I’d share some of the remaining cards with you all right now
because they just look divine!
These
were made by Panosh Group, Inc. and were entitled Sweet Scents! (They smelled
like bubblegum. Total score!) The set included cards with little heart characters
and a gumball machine as well as some stickers. The first images above contain
cute messages. I love the grid design on the background and the illustrations
on the cards are just cute and bubbly.
Other
cards utilized the same image but with different messages, like, “Valentine,
you knock me out!” The card to the left contains stickers scattered all around.
I was young when I got this set so the scattered stickers on some of the cards
don’t really make a great deal of scents. (Get it, scents? As in Sweet Scents?
I slay myself!)
Here
are some more cards with similar images and even more messages. These cards
make me crave bubblegum so badly! On a side note, did anyone ever try blowing a
large bubble with gum that would magically make them float? I always tried to
do that. I also tried to dig a hole to China with a childhood friend once too.
I really fell for just about anything as a kid.
There
are even more fun festive Valentine cards with the familiar images we have seen
before. The card to the left is funny, “Valentine, you’re always on my mind!” Quite literally! The heart character is
crawling up on the gumball machine, which begs the question, is the heart
character falling for the gumball machine or the machine’s gum only? Such a gum
digger!
“Valentine,
I’m falling for you.” Poor heart character. Tripping over delicious candy… I
love the candy choices during this time of year. Candy hearts with fun messages
have always been delicious and while I have always enjoyed chocolate, it is not
my most favorite Valentine candy. I like the sugary stuff, ya know, Sweet Tarts
and the like.
One
final card is left as well as an image of a card flipped over. The image on
this card doesn’t really match the message, but that is fine. The artwork is
really cute and reminiscent of the kinds of stationary products that were
available in the 80’s. The flipped side of the Sweet Scents cards was festive
for the holiday too. The hearts decorated on the card with the heart character
stamp add a nice touch. I don’t know if stationary products were all the rage
in other decades, but I do recall a lot of similar items being in abundance in
stores in the 80’s.
This
final image is of the stickers that came with this set. There are two different
heart shaped characters, the girl heart was not featured on the cards that I
owned, but I have been trying my best to locate other images of these cards to
see if there is anything I am missing. The bubble look of the hearts coupled
with the hot pinks and bold reds always make me smile. I loved these stickers
and have been beyond thrilled to continue to have them all these years later.
It
is these images that make me excited for Valentine’s Day. Great deals of things
have been said about Valentine’s Day and some of those words may be true. It
can be a holiday rife with expectations for couples that can be silly and
unnecessary. However, there are some really fun reasons to hold onto and enjoy
the holiday filled with hearts and a lot of red and pink. I look forward to sharing
more of my retro memories about this rather non-holiday holiday. I hope you are
all doing well, and be sure to share your own memories of Valentine’s Day!
MissM Posted on Feb 08, 2014 at 08:05 AM
I have many fond memories of sharing valentines with classmates. (Which will totally be getting a write up before V-Day. lol) It really was a fun time and there were so many themed valentine cards! I was a magnet for anything scented though. I was obsessed.
Vaporman87 Posted on Feb 04, 2014 at 05:43 PM
These cards are very reminiscent of those that my classmates and I exchanged every year in Elementary School. It was our parents to duty to make sure every child on the list that we were each given had a card from us. It was a fun time to stand up in class and start handing out cards until everyone was finished, and then start opening them. Occasionally you would get a nice little message from a friend.
I typically stuck with the superhero or Saturday Morning Cartoon themes. Those were my favorites. I don't think I ever received one with a built in scent though. I missed out on that!!!
Thanks again Miss M!
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