The original multi-taskers: KP’s pioneer women

The Key Peninsula Historical Society Museum re-opens February 1 at 1 p.m. with a new display: “Pioneer Women Who Dared — KP women’s work was never done.”

It focuses on the many tasks pioneer women had in order to take care of their families and stay alive in our early days.

Washing clothes, finding food, tending gardens, organizing the community, being the social conscience of the communities, teaching (even though most of them didn’t have much education beyond age 17), care of the farms and animals, the children, chopping wood to stay warm, staying healthy themselves while doing all this — while their husbands worked at logging, fishing, etc.

A few women managed hotels — Edith Delano at Delano Beach, Gertrude Wyatt in Longbranch, and Agnes Peterson in Glencove.

The emphasis is from 1870s until pre-electricity, into late 1915. Next year, the museum will note the changes that came after that time — including World War I, electricity, and women’s voting rights.

The museum is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, 1 – 4 p.m. There’s no admission charge, but donations are always welcome. Various local history books, postcards, old-time toys, T-shirts and other gift items are available for sale.

You gotta have heart

Saint Valentine was a priest or bishop in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and buried at a Christian cemetery north of Rome, on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine’s Day) since 496 AD.

Curious about where the first heart representing love appeared, I found there isn’t a specific date, but several general ideas, from 1250, in a miniature decoration of a French Roman manuscript.

Some have thought it was modeled after breast or buttocks, some thought an ivy leaf, and a particular plant, silphium, a giant fennel grown in Cyrene, had a seedpod resembling a heart shape. Greeks and Romans used it as medicine and food flavoring, but notably for birth control.

It was “cultivated into extinction” by first century AD, and according to legend, the last surviving stalk was presented to Nero!

Since our emotions and pleasures are associated with our hearts, it’s a simple step to make this heart symbol become a sign of love.

From about 1840 to 1940s, there were printed “Vinegar Valentines,” insulting or sarcastic pieces of paper that cost a penny to mail, when receivers had to pay the postage.

Insults might be about looks, intelligence or occupation, and “dudes” and “floozies” were recognizable figures for some.

Some such postcards sent anonymously were confiscated by postmasters who thought them unfit to be mailed!

One famous “heart” is the Claddagh ring. I was told by an aunt in Scotland that my grandmother came from Claddagh, a fishing village outside Galway, so I read up on it before we visited there.

The story is that a young man named Richard, fishing at sea with others, were captured by pirates and taken to Africa as slaves. He was employed keeping the fires burning for a goldsmith, and each day he stole a tiny speck of gold. Years passed and he finally had enough to fashion a ring he hoped he could someday take to his beloved in Ireland. He did, and his love was still true to him.

The heart in the ring symbolizes his love, the hands for friendship, the foundation of love, with a crown for loyalty holding the hands together.

My sister and I each returned from Ireland with a Claddaugh ring – not gold, but a special commemorative for us..