It's coming . . . Valentine's Day! As always, you can start finding more than you probably want to know at Wikipedia. In addition to all the legends and folk traditions I found the section on "Modern Times", which starts at 1797 of interest. It also goes on to talk of specific worldwide celebration, saying "On the United States mainland, about 190 million Valentine's Day cards are sent each year, not including the hundreds of millions of cards school children exchange." Aside from all the types of candy and e-cards, it's good to know it is still an activity in the schools.
When I went looking for a story, I knew Caroline Sherwin Bailey could be counted on to have at least one. It was interesting to find a story that might take children back to their great grandparents' childhood during World War II. My copy of Merry Tales for Children is the 1943 edition with the earlier 1921 version included. While Bailey gives an editorial note of stories by other authors, this seems to be pure Bailey storytelling. Fortunately Platt & Munk didn't renew the copyright, so both versions are now Public Domain. I love turning to the back jacket flap of my hard cover book where "all the boys and girls of America" are urged to "buy U.S. War Bonds or Stamps. Start now to save for the future and you will be helping your country to win the war." That's definitely worth a bit of discussion along with such things as fountain pens and typewriters in a day when even cursive writing is becoming a relic of the past. Whenever I do my One-Room Schoolteacher program I always have grandparents in the audience talk about having to teach their grandchildren cursive or, at least, how to write a signature. I see it's a skill in demand for genealogy. I also note the way the United States Postal Service has changed. Back then it was twice a day. Today it's still necessary to point out why it should even continue to be week days.
Save for the end talking about the "Four-legged Saint Valentine" trained to deliver letters in red envelopes. What an idea! Service dogs continue to exist, but doubt we have the pleasure of having teeth marks on our mail. Hmmm! Wonder if robot dogs of the future will be in schools and libraries to encourage children to practice their reading. Personally I prefer the reactions of an actual dog.
Also after the story I give some dog-related crafts as well as a way to celebrate with your own dog if you are so blessed as to have these Four-Legged Valentines.
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BestFriends.org has 9 ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your pets -- they also have information about how they are "on the ground helping Los Angeles pets" after the L.A. wildfires.
Easy puppy paper bag Valentine card holder
or use a Dog Valentine box with printable template
and a puppy as a Valentine craft
Whether a dog, cat, or other pet, they are family and deserve our love.
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