Video above: New England otters creating customized Valentines' Day cardsIt was Valentine맥스카지노�s Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth 맥스카지노� a fourth grader 맥스카지노� seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card.The folding, pop-up Valentine's Day card, on stock so heavy it remains in good shape 106 years later, reads: 맥스카지노�Forget me not!/I ask of thee/Reserve one spot/In your heart for me.맥스카지노�And so she did. Years later they married, and Louise displayed the cherished card, tucked into the fretwork of a bedroom dresser, for decades to come. She pointed it out to her daughter, and later to a granddaughter, me, and it remained near her bedside until her death at 91, a token of lasting love.Although the message was in English, the card is printed with the word 맥스카지노�Germany맥스카지노� and is seemingly imported, as were many cards of that era. Small companies in the U.S. also were part of a flourishing commercial card business.Hallmark, which began offering Valentine's Day cards in 1913, estimates that today, 145 million Valentine맥스카지노�s Day cards are exchanged annually, not including the kids맥스카지노� valentines popular for classroom exchanges.Fertility-related customs and rituals have been celebrated in mid-February since pagan times, says Emelie Gevalt, curator of folk art and curatorial chair for collections at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.Tokens of affection varied: In the 1600s, the practice was to give pairs of gloves in mid-February, she says.맥스카지노�By the 18th century, we start to see something that really begins to resemble modern Valentine맥스카지노�s cards,맥스카지노� she says. 맥스카지노�In the 19th century, this evolved further to the point where popular ladies맥스카지노� magazines like Harper맥스카지노�s Weekly published instructions for readers on how to craft them.맥스카지노�There have long been both earnest, heartfelt Valentines like Grandpa Fred's, and ones in a more teasing, playful vein.The museum맥스카지노�s collection includes a number of lovingly crafted tokens of affection from various periods. 맥스카지노�You see the heart motif quite a lot,맥스카지노� Gevalt says.Although not specifically linked to Valentine맥스카지노�s Day, an exhibit at the museum opening March 17, 맥스카지노�Material Witness: Folk and Self-Taught Artists at Work,맥스카지노� features two examples of 맥스카지노�fraktur,맥스카지노� exuberantly decorated watercolors made by German immigrants in Pennsylvania. One is called 맥스카지노�Inverted Heart,맥스카지노� and another depicts a labyrinth.맥스카지노�They were really dazzling objects, including motifs of flowers or hearts. The playfulness and cleverness of these objects is one of the most interesting aspects they have in common,맥스카지노� Gevalt says.In the mid-19th century, some people shared 맥스카지노�Vinegar Valentines,맥스카지노� a sort of anti-Valentine that featured playfully insulting verses, not unlike a modern-day roast.Sometimes, cards involved writing in a circle or upside down, like a puzzle. Some had a decorative folded border or verses on the folds; cutwork resembling lace; or watercolor decorations of pierced hearts, lovebirds and flowers. Lover맥스카지노�s knots and labyrinths were also common elements.맥스카지노�They remind me of games, like plucking the petals of a flower saying 맥스카지노�she loves me, she loves me not,맥스카지노�맥스카지노� Gevalt says.The boom in commercial Valentine맥스카지노�s Day cards in the mid-1800s was a reflection of changing courtship patterns, says Elizabeth White Nelson, associate professor of history at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.맥스카지노�The idea of companionate marriage and love became a part of the calculus of marriage, and Valentine맥스카지노�s Day cards became a part of courtship,맥스카지노� she says.These days, the cards continue to evolve.맥스카지노�Over the last few years, trends have been less about romantic love but more about letting someone know they matter," says Jen Walker, vice president of trends and creative studios at Hallmark Cards, Inc.There are "more inclusive visuals, and a larger representation of relationships 맥스카지노� love, chosen family, friendships, parents and children, self-care,맥스카지노� she says.A bit of mystery surrounds my Grandma Louise맥스카지노�s precious Valentine. It would have been out of character for Fred to buy a commercial card as opposed to, say, presenting her with a bouquet of pussy willows he had picked.맥스카지노�That period would have been the beginning of an organized practice of exchanging Valentines in school," says Nelson. In some classrooms, everyone was required, or at least encouraged, to give a Valentine.맥스카지노�The giving and receiving of Valentines was always partly about performing love, for an audience,맥스카지노� says Nelson, 맥스카지노�and once that Valentine맥스카지노�s Day card got saved, it would have become a talisman of all that love is supposed to be.맥스카지노�