February, the month of love; be it the love of early spring or continued winter with the prediction made on Groundhog Day, or the quintessential day of love with Valentine’s Day. Thoughts of Valentine’s Day bring to mind chocolates, flowers, gifts, valentines, and spending time with a special someone.
How did one day become the flagship for displaying love and how did people develop love throughout the rest of the year here in the region?
The modern-day celebration of Valentine’s Day is a combination of customs and lore passed down through time, with the origins murky and disputed among historians. Over time, older celebrations were subsumed into Christian holidays; the holidays were overtly Christian but their underlying traditions dated back to earlier practices. Common symbols associated with the holiday today, such as birds, cupids, sweet treats, gifts, and flowers trace their roots back to earlier celebrations.
While a Saint Valentine existed, it’s not certain which Valentine to attribute the day to. One legend states that one had signed a letter “from your Valentine” to a woman he had healed while another Valentine secretly married couples against the emperor’s orders. In the mid-nineteenth century, paper had become more easily accessible and allowed for more intricate Valentine’s cards to be created.
But it was the turn of the 20th century and the founding of Hallmark that ushered in a Valentine’s Day as we know it today. The turn of the century also saw a focus on children’s participation in giving Valentines at school.
For many rural people, work on the family farm took up much of their time. However, certain social activities throughout the year gave the chance for young people to meet and intermarriage between close family friends was common. Examples include cornshuckings, trips to the grist mill, and holiday celebrations.
Cornshuckings were a way for locals to get together and help one another work while giving them the opportunity to socialize. A competitive incentive was the famed red ear of corn. A rare occurrence caused by an imbalance of sugar in the plant, the first person to find a red ear of corn was entitled to a kiss from the person of his or her choice.
A cause of the Hillsville Courthouse Tragedy can be traced to a cornshucking. In the fall of 1911, Wesley and Sidna Edwards attended a cornshucking where Wesley found the red ear of corn. He chose to kiss the girlfriend of William Thomas, which sparked a fight outside either a school or a church service the next day and the subsequent events culminating at the courthouse.
Taliaferro gave particular insight into courting customs of the county in Fisher’s River Scenes, even going so far as to dedicate a chapter to courtship. Most of the young people walked to “meetin” together to do their courting. At dances, “sparkin” was sought after.
As Taliaferro states: For one young man to get the advantage of another in sparkin’ was considered quite lawful and shrewd and it was called “cuttin’ out.” No duels were fought on account of it. It was the law in their courtships. The young ladies admired it; hence they would make no engagements with young men to be partners with them for a time — not even to accompany them to meeting and back to their homes. No; the young misses loved to see the young “sparkers” exercise their ingenuity in the game of “catch and keep.”
Here at the museum, Valentine’s Day represents a love of history and all that entails. History is fascinating, disturbing, sad, and infuriating at times but studying it helps us to learn about the past and prepare for a better and brighter future.
Justyn Kissam is the Director of Programs and Education at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Winston-Salem, she has moved around the state for her education and public history work until settling in Mount Airy. She can be reached at 336-786-4478 x 228 or jnkissam@northcarolinamuseum.org
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com