by David Cardillo, DDNP Staff, Blog Contributor
In the same way there have been stories of hauntings for Halloween and heartwarming Christmas stories in newspapers, there are also romance stories, as evidenced in the February 14, 1914 edition of The Middletown Transcript.
In this issue, Joanna Single wrote a short story, “A Valentine Heart,” about a young lady named Nancy. Nancy is a secretary who has grown fond of her boss throughout her interactions with him at work. And he has become fond of her as well, though neither Nancy or her boss become aware of this until the end of the story. No separate artist is mentioned, thus the artwork may also have been drawn by the author. The artwork depicts the three characters of the story and is an interesting sample of illustrations and fashions of the time.
Middletown transcript. (Middletown, Del.), 14 Feb. 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
More stories, though perhaps without illustrations, can be found by searching “Valentine’s Day” on the Chronicling America website.