Valentine’s Day

NORTHVILLIANS,

It’s that time of year again when we slow down and give a Valentine Day gift to a spouse, friend, family, loved one, or even a neighbor. Take a moment this year to reach out to those you know…let them realize how much you appreciate them. This week, I’ve gone back to look at Valentine Days from the past according to “clips” from The Northville Record, dating all the way back to the 1800s.

Let’s look at Valentine Days of yesteryear according to The Northville Record.

1897 – The St. Valentine’s Day illustration shown above was on the front page of the Northville Record.
1923 – The paper featured multiple Valentine specials for the holiday. The Northville Drug Company (Lucy & the Wolf location) advertised booklets & postcards, along with boxes of Gilberts or MacDiarmid’s chocolates and other sweets for 29 cents/lb.  You could also get Hot Butterscotch Sundays from the fountain for your sweetheart.
1939 – Freydl’s Women’s store (Adorn Fine Flowers) suggested Heart-to-Heart Gifts with a poem:
If you’ve a special Valentine
And you’d like to make her thine
Glance about at our gay array
Of perfume, jewels, and lingerie.
Back in the day, that was pretty wild!  Also, in 1939, my grandfather’s Northville Electric Shop (Baby Baby location) advertised Practical Valentine Gifts including radios for $8.95, lamps at $1.50 and electric clocks for $2.95 to “Make life easier for MOM.” 
1940 – The D & C store (Great Harvest Bread) advertised heart-shaped Bracks Candy Boxes for 29 cents.
1949 – At Fredl’s Men Store (Genitti’s Theater Today), one could buy a tie at the Valentine Special price of 64 cents (down from $1).
1957 – Previous Mayoral candidate & Citizen of the Year Award recipient Paul Folino’s Paul’s Sweet Shop (this building now in Mill Race as its General Store, previously the location of Studio 170) stated “Paul’s candies make Happy Hearts” and reminded shoppers that their fine candies were homemade.
1958 – Cupid’s Guide to Valentine Gifting from local stores in The Northville Record debuted that week with lots of ideas.
1959 – WJR’s vocalist Jan Wynn was featured with the Jimmie Clark orchestra (sponsored by the Northville Rotary Club) at its Valentine dance at the Community Center.
1964 – A Valentine’s dinner-dance was sponsored by the Northville Newcomers Club and was hosted at the VFW Hall on Northville Road.
1981 – Genitti’s had jars of jellybeans & candy sticks on their window ledge for Valentine’s Day, with a counter full of sweets that ran from chocolate covered banana chips to peanut brittle. The treats were homemade by the Old Village Sweets-N-Treats shop in Plymouth (owned by Northvillians Jim & Shirley Cowie).

Shop for your Valentine in Northville’s Social District – there is something for everyone…spices, shoes & clothes, entertainment, jewelry, candy, framing, gift cards for goods, services and/or meals at all of our restaurants and lots more!

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING LOCAL…and come down to the HEAT IN THE STREET to celebrate with your sweetheart.

Keep that Northville Valentine’s Day Faith!

Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
BTurnbull@ci.northville.mi.us / 248.505.6849

(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)

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