Every girl usually had a crush on at least one boy and this was the time of year when you could really let them know how you felt. Boys, at these ages, were not into "love" - it made them throw up. However, they did like girls to love them - they just didn't want to reciprocate. (So, just exactly how have things changed in that regard?)
The days leading up to Valentine's Day were spent in choosing the most effective and prettiest assortment of valentines from the local dime store (see definition below). These came in boxes of around 25, with envelopes. I don't remember what pictures were on them or what they said, but I know that I would sort through them, picking the biggest and most expressive one for the object of my fervent affections. The word "Love" was, of course, essential in the verbiage.
From Wikipedia: The concept of the variety store originated with the five and ten, or nickel and dime or dimestore, a store where everything cost either five cents (a nickel) or ten cents (a dime). The originator of the concept may be Woolworths, which began in 1878 in Watertown, New York. Other five and tens that existed in the USA included W.T. Grant, J.J. Newberry's, McCrory's, Kresge, McClellan's, and Ben Franklin Stores. These stores originally featured merchandise priced at only five cents or ten cents, although later in the century, the price range of merchandise expanded. Inflation eventually dictated that the stores were no longer able to sell any items for five or ten cents, and were then referred to as "variety stores". Given that $0.05 in 1913 when adjusted for inflation is $1.02 in 2006 dollars, this retailing concept has shown remarkable vitality over the years.We were not required to give Valentine's to each classmate, so naturally, a typically stinky little adolescent is generally not going to consider the long term effects of the rejection experienced from not receving many Valentines. Each mailbox owner was terrified of opening it and finding that they did not have many or any Valentines. It was safest to open your box later at home, in case this was the outcome. ("I just want to be able to savor it in the privacy of my room.") Lord pity the poor unpopular child. As we all know, there were those unfortunate souls that were at a disadvantage in looks (most important acceptance criteria), nice clothes or money. In my case, I wore glasses. Perhaps my choice of glasses may have had something to do with it as you can see below.
Please don't hold this lack of taste against me - maybe cat eyes glasses were the "thing" then. I suspect they might have been. My daughter told me that she can't believe my parents let me wear them...........
Apparently, this has all changed now and everyone must give a Valentine to each classmate - this is assuming that Valentine's Day is still celebrated with mailboxes in the classroom. Whatever the case, I do imagine that our latest batch of adolescents is just as mean sometimes.
In closing, give Valentines, especially to those you do not like. It's the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
