By Sam Sedoryk, Museum Education Specialist
We all know Valentine's Day as the ultimate romantic holiday (sorry, Presidents' Day). It’s a holiday with a long historic tradition of telling the special someone in your life how you feel, maybe through words or acts of affirmation, or sometimes you just don’t know how to express that feeling. Don’t worry, we have all been there!
If you were an early Windsorite, what would the celebrating holiday have been like?
You might have rushed to Frazier’s Drugstore, “The Valentine Headquarter Store,” as one ad claimed in 1945. Picking out a card, a box of chocolates for a dollar, and trying to remember if your special someone likes roses or not. Perhaps you were waiting for that confession of love in a letter as you stop by the post office, harassing Postmaster Hanna, asking, “Any mail for me?!”
But what if you were young and in love? Well, if you were a young Windsorite, you would be exchanging little love notes between you and your classmates, or perhaps you were frantically thinking about how to ask your crush out during the swift minutes of passing 
period in Junior High. Most importantly, you would be wondering who you would ask to the “Sweetheart Ball,” the Valentine’s dance at the high school that ran from the 1950 through the 1970s. With sweaty palms and a rapidly beating heart, you would ask your date for a dance as you entered the dance floor, stepping back and forth as the live music filled the gymnasium.
These might have been some of the experiences of a Windsorite on Valentine's Day in the past. Whether you celebrate 
it or not, it’s a colorful holiday that helps us get through the bleak and grey winter. Happy Valentine's Day!
Image 1: A Valentines card, "To my Valentine," circa 1910s.
Image 2: Clipping from the Windsor Beacon, February 17, 1906.
Image 3: Couples dancing in the high school gymnasium, date unknown.