A Birthday Dinner at Our Place : Valentine Edition 2018
A Look at Something Rare : A Book of Vintage Valentines from the 60s
Follow Up 2020 : Hi. Thanks for dropping by. I used this book as part of our vintage Valentine decor this year, found here , if you’d like to see. xo
Happy Valentine's Day to those who celebrate, and happy Wednesday to those who don't!
In honour of the day, I thought I'd share a rare item I found on ebay a few months ago. It's a completely intact book of Valentines for children, lithographed in Scarborough in the sixties. (If you're wondering, Scarborough is the suburb to the east of Toronto.)
As mentioned last week, I mail Valentine cards to the young people in my life every year, so I put a bid on this book of 200 pieces (around 110 valentines, plus extra bits to go with them), fully intending to use it if I won the auction.
I really didn't need any more vintage Valentines, as I already had a good stash, however that never stopped me from looking. I was surprised when this came up in my search, as I'd never seen one exactly like it. What I could see in the few photos the seller included, this was a special deluxe version. It was hard to resist, so I put in the minimum bid of $20.
I was particularly interested in this book because I already had copies of some of the cards in it, in my collection. Those came cut apart and a little beat up when I got them as part of a mixed lot years ago, (also from ebay), Regardless of being torn here and there, though, I've loved and displayed them every year -- they're hanging much like they were in this post right now.
So, as you can see, I won the auction. These types of vintage Valentine books go for over a hundred dollars when they are in good shape, so I was pretty surprised about that.
And, now that I've seen it and realize that it might very well be the only example of its kind still in existence today, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to bring myself to break it apart. hmmm.
Here's a look ...
Good Times : Local Bands at Lee’s Palace
If the first band pictured in this post looks familiar on these pages, that's because Nick, Meghan and I saw them perform on New Year's Eve at The Gladstone Hotel (posted about here).
With their tight lively disco sound, Tush were so good that afterwards Meghan got online to find out when we'd get a chance to see them again. Turned out an opportunity was coming right up, at Lee's Palace, so she and I went on a recent Friday evening, along with a longtime friend of hers, Vee. Also on the bill was another Toronto band, funk 8-piece called The Soul Motivators.
Both bands were really good and the crowd was in a partying mood. There was much dancing and good cheer going on in that club!
Tush :
Thoughts on Valentine’s and a Seasonal Decoration Tutorial
Valentine's Day ... some love it, some hate it, and some choose to just ignore it.
February 14th has been a day to commemorate love for over 618 years, said to have begun in the 14th century within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer, the writer, poet and philosopher, known as the father of English Literature.
I've seen it referred to as a "Hallmark Holiday", existing only as a means to promote commercial spending, however, given that it has been celebrated for over six centuries longer than the Hallmark Greeting Card Company has existed, that's just not true!
Personally, I've always liked Valentine's Day. As a lifelong fan of stationery and old-fashioned mail, I have fond memories of preparing cards for my school friends as a kid. I loved that tidy stack of tiny envelopes, ready to distribute. I remember a craft project in grade one, where we were all asked to bring an empty tissue box to school, which we then painted and decorated. Our finished creations were lined up on a shelf and on Valentine's Day, we "mailed" our cards to our friends. A funny little story about that particular Valentine's Day ... there was a boy who gave me two cards that were exactly the same. I assumed it was a mistake. But then, 11 years later when we spoke at a party, we had a laugh as he revealed that it had been intentional because he really loved me, back when we were six! He was the silent type and I'd had no idea, haha.
Nowadays, in a long-term relationship, Nick and I enjoy doing a little something special for Valentine's Day. Nothing grand or expensive, just cards, small token gifts, and a thought-out dinner, eaten on a properly set table with a bottle of nice wine. We always play the Chet Baker "My Funny Valentine" cd that I got him our first year together.
Mail is still a big part of the holiday, and I always mail cards to the younger children in my life. My stash of original vintage Valentine Cards is one of my favourite collections (see some of them here, here, and here.) I got a fabulous book of them from the 60s recently, in mint condition, which I'll post about next week.
I also love the look of heart-shapes and the colours combination of deep red, black and white, so over the years, I've taken advantage of the holiday to incorporate the pallet into my crafting, making small decorations that I sprinkle around the house.
All that said, I completely understand that not everyone sees this holiday the way I do, and I'm not here to convince anyone to join me on the side of hearts and cards. However, if you're already on the "like it" side, perhaps you'd like to try making this wooden decoration.
Supplies are fairly easy to find at the craft store (I go to Michael's at John Street and Richmond), except the two pieces of wood I used to make this thing stand up. Those come from one of those mandarin orange crates that I can never bring myself to throw away. These crates are stapled together, with no glue, so it's easy for an adult to take them apart with pliers, to get the two triangular pieces of wood you need for this project. If you don't have an orange crate hanging around though, you can make this without the stand part, and hang it on the wall.
This is an easy make, that an older child could tackle. Supplies come to about $2. Again, though, I suggest an adult to the taking apart of the orange crate, if using. Those staples are very sharp.
Afternoon Lady-Date Continued : A Nice Coffee Shop and Some Virtual Reality
