Valentine’s Day Flower History; A look back on how Valentine Day Flowers Started

1913 – Corsage bouquets, like this one made of violets, were favored gifts from early admirers.

Today, Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest floral holidays of the Year. However, the tradition of giving flowers to a loved one did not originate with the February 14th holiday. In fact, a major marketing effort launched in 1911 introduced flowers as a popular gift enjoyed by many. This was credited with making flowers the Valentine’s Day gift of choice and they remain so to this day.

PAPER LACE CARDS

Prior to World War 1 (1914), St. Valentine’s Day, as it was commonly called then, was celebrated by the exchanging of paper lace cards with one’s beloved. The practice of giving flowers to express Valentine’s Day sentiments didn’t begin to catch on until the mid-1910, and grew slowly at first.
In the January 30, 1913 issue of The Weekly Florists’ Review, an article stated “Of all the obvious things of this world, the appropriateness of flowers for Valentine’s [Day] is most perfectly plain.” It needs not argument…..because flowers and hearts go naturally together.

That year, florists in Columbus, Ohio tried out newspaper advertising featuring the slogan, “Let Flowers Be Your Valentine.” These early marketing efforts brought flowers to the forefront, and Valentine’s Day flower sales continued to increase over the years.

ROSES WERE RARE

Prior to about 1930, floral valentines were typically of a single flower type and were arranged into corsage bouquets. Violets, sweet peas, and lilies-of-the-valley were most often selected for the holiday. Spring flowers such as stocks, acacia stems, and pussy willows were also popular, as were spring flowering hyacinths, daffodils, and tulip plants.

It wasn’t until the early 1930s that roses were in demand for the special day. Starting around 1927, rose sales increased gradually for several years and eventually, the rose eclipsed all other flowers in Valentine’s Day sales. By 1940, roses and carnations were considered traditional for Valentine’s Day.

SYMBOLS OF LOVE

As flowers became the accepted form of Valentine’s Day expression, accessories quickly became important design elements. Hearts, lovebirds, and Cupids were commonly tied to basket handles, featured in display windows, and added into arrangements and potted plants.

Novelty containers, especially heart-shaped ones, were all the rage throughout the 1920s and ‘30s. As a result, loose arrangements, in vases, bowls, and baskets, became more common, and the popularity of the corsage bouquet began to wane. By the late 1940s, the gathered, single-flower corsage bouquets of violets or sweet peas had been virtually eliminated from holiday tradition, although body corsages remained fashionable Valentine’s Day gifts until the 1950s.

Despite product diversification and the many flower varieties available for the February holiday, no other flower or product has rivaled the popularity of the red rose for Valentine’s Day; of course, that remains true today. Over the years, mixed arrangements, particularly those featuring premium flowers such as orchids and lilies, have captured some of the holiday market, but red roses seem truly to be unshakable Valentine’s Day icons.

Article adapted from “Holidays,” a chapter written by Dianne Noland in A Centennial History of the American Florist, published by Florists’ Review.