The rose is red, the violet blue,
Lilies are fair and so are you.

This valentine verse, familiar today, was already popular in the 1700s. Long before that time, however, there were valentine traditions that we still honor. For example, when we draw valentines from a box we are keeping a custom the Romans began over 2,000 years ago.

There was a real Saint Valentine. This book tells some of the legends that grew up about him, and how February 14—the day of his death—became a romantic holiday.

Manufactured valentines have a long and interesting history. Do you know what a "valentine writer" was? Where you could buy a valentine two feet long and pay for it with a bag of gold? How Esther Howland, a Massachusetts girl, made a fortune?

Do you know why English girls slept with bay leaves pinned to their pillows on Valentine's Eve? Why Madame Royale's palace was named The Valentine? Why Valentine's Day was called Vrouwen Dagh in old New York?

Here are Valentine greetings and symbols, fortunes and parties through the years. Boys and girls who like to send and receive valentines are sure to enjoy Miss Guilfoile's fascinating story of the colorful February holiday.

From the dust jacket