Betty Lou’s Fishy Valentine Card

A couple of years ago I went through some of my mom’s old belongings.  It was mostly photos, old school programs, and a variety of different cards and such.  I posted one old Valentine’s Day card back then, but she had a few others.  The one I’m posting today is a strange one, so I’m not really sure why I’m sharing it with everyone.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

You see it?!  It must have been given to young Betty Lou Bucklin when she was just a school girl.  On the back of the card it says “To Betty Lou, From Lela.”  I remember when I was in elementary school in Jennings.  It seemed like every year Grandma Bucklin (Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin) would buy us a box or bag of Valentine cards for us to give to all of our classmates.  She would also buy us those little sweet heart candies.  You know, the ones that say “Be Mine” and “Love” on them.

At school on the day before Valentine’s Day, we’d all make a bag to put out to collect our cards from our classmates.  So the night before, we’d write “To Lori, from Van” on the back of the cards.  Then the next day we’d go to each person’s bag and match up the right card for each one.  My mom must have done the same thing when she was younger, because Lela Mae Jester was a classmate and friend of hers and this was the card she got from her one year.

But why did she save it?  Lots of times she saved things because of their artistic interest.  Maybe she would paint it at a later date.  I don’t recall her ever painting a scaly salmon-colored fish smoking a cigarette!  Or maybe it was because of the poem that was on it?  That’s another questionable motivation.  I’m not really sure what the message is.

So there you have it.  A weird, fishy Valentine’s Day card from the early 1940s.

She saved it.  I shared it.  Enjoy.