Saturday, February 14, 2015

Our Valentine to You: All About Victorian Valentines


The Victorians were thoroughly in love with love. The original flower children were part of a time when affairs of the heart were more celebrated and necklines were not so buttoned up and so, of course, Valentine's Day promised great fun for  all. Major paradigm shifts helped this along, including the increasingly common and shockingly modern idea that one could include love in their reasons for entering into holy matrimony. With this new freedom, Victorians devoted enormous energy to sending their dear ones missives worthy of their love. Common practices included hand-painting your own Valentines and rimming them in layers of fine lace, or gifting lockets, small mirrors, or "puzzle purses", origami inspired Valentines that delivered more and more dramatic professions of amour as they were unfolded. Love knots, amorous acrostics, and cheeky riddles abounded.


An early example of a Puzzle Purse, circa 1816
from Victoriana Magazine
The first Valentines to be commercially produced actually hailed from Worcester, Massachusetts (New England, ever a bastion for innovation). The clever and creative Esther Howland, who later came to be known as "The Mother of the Valentine", started making Valentines to order in her home in 1848 and the business venture had explosive popularity, nearly overnight, selling thousand of her handmade Valentines to amorous suitors all over the world. Her business eventually came to make over $100,000 a year, which would come out to just over three million dollars annually in 2015. The enormous success of Howland's Valentines was in no small part due to prepaid postage stamps and the advent of the affordable Penny Post, introduced in 1840 in England and 1847 in the United States. Suddenly, even common folks could  send messages to sweethearts all over the world.


An example of an Esther Howland Valentine
Even our inspiration Charles Dickens gave a nod to the phenomena of the Valentine in his own publication Household Words, describing a post-office awash with confessions and declarations of love as
"sacrifices to the fane of St. Valentine—consisting of hearts, darts, Cupid peeping out of paper-roses, Hymen embowered in hot-pressed embossing, swains in very blue coats and nymphs in very opaque muslin, coarse caricatures and tender verses.”

Victorian Valentines were not limited to sweet nothings or even vaguely lewd suggestion, but were also occasionally used as a platform to shake a finger at someone or completely insult them. They ranged from the playful to the downright nasty. These were known as vinegar valentines and were a common practice throughout the waging of the Civil War, losing steam as one century turned into another. Perhaps it is not a tradition to be missed.

An Esther Howland creation

So this our Pickwick's Mercantile Valentine to you, a little bit of a peek at what inspires our own love of this delightful holiday. I hope that you are out upholding the legacy and spirit of Valentine's Day in your very own way today. You know we'll be at it today, tomorrow, and always!

"A loving heart is the truest wisdom."
- Mr. Charles Dickens

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For more seasonally appropriate reading on this fun topic:
The Valentine - a Tribute to Love (Victoriana Magazine)
"Valentine's at the Post Office" by Charles Dickens
"Esther Howland and the American Valentine Industry"
"Love and Derision, or Valentine's Victorian Style"

Monday, February 9, 2015

Galentine's Day: A Gastronomic Love Letter to SASS/A Safe Place


Last Tuesday evening, at 7 o'clock, a wonderful group of diners, male and female, gathered in the upstairs space at Moxy Restaurant on Penhallow Street to enjoy a meal, performances, and raise money for Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) and A Safe Place. We dubbed it "Galentine's Day: A Gastronomic Love Letter to SASS/A Safe Place" The event was sponsored by Lady Pickwick's and we could not be more thrilled with the response. Only five days after beginning to spread the word, we were over-sold for the evening! The time itself was lovely. Chef Matt Louis of Moxy presented dish after mouth-watering dish to the guests, many of whom were first-time visitors of this amazing North American tapas experience. Such special dishes as duck egg, fried goat cheese balls on fresh greens, caviar, and homemade espresso crumble with homemade ice cream delighted diners as the evening passed. All locally sourced and made completely from scratch, I believe it safe to say that it was the first time that many Love Letter attendees had ever enjoyed such a dining experience.



Between the final course and dessert, there was another special treat prepared for our guests. Three lovely ladies from the cast of Back Alley Productions' "The Vagina Monologues" presented their pieces in performances that ranged from the heartbreaking to the hilarious. These three monologues were so excellent that they tempted the palate of everyone as mere teasers for the main event, V-Day Portsmouth and Back Alley Productions' presentation of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" at the Music Hall on February 21st. This is the tenth and final year of this stirring production and the first time it has been presented in the beautiful and historic Music Hall. The proceeds for that event, just as the proceeds for Galentine's Day, will go to support SASS and A Safe Place. It is certain to sell out, so buy your tickets now!

Pickwickians Knate Higgins and Thistle Jones welcome guests to Galentine's Day
Perhaps the most wonderful part of this particular evening was how the community rallied to support it coming to be. Aside from the overwhelming response from our kind dinner guests, so many wonderful sponsors offered their fine product and services so that the maximum amount of funds raised could go directly to SASS and A Safe Place. These sponsors included Moxy, Dole & Bailey, Seaport Fish, New Hampshire Mushroom Company, Emergence Farm, and woman-owned New England Uncorked and Throwback Brewery. 


Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) and A Safe Place are local women's charities that focus on serving and empowering victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse. Both have served the Seacoast with incredible energy for over thirty years and merged this winter to bring even greater quality assistance to the Seacoast. They do incredible and important work and we were honored to host Galentine's Day in their honor. You can read more about what their work at:


and support them further by attending The Vagina Monologues for V-Day Portsmouth on February 21st at the Music Hall! The Pickwickians will be there and we simply can't wait to see you. Keep an eye on our facebook and this space for more exciting events, like our Love Magick workshop at the end of this month!