GCW7W2 Would you be my Valentine Cache (Traditional Cache) in Massachusetts, United States created by Doublestuff

This cache has been archived.

The Seanachai: Greetings from Geocaching.com,

While we feel that Geocaching.com should hold the location for you for a reasonable amount of time, we cannot do so indefinitely. In light of the lack of communication regarding this cache it has been archived to free up the area for new placements. If you haven’t done so already, please pick up this cache or any remaining bits as soon as possible. If you are in the process of replacing or repairing your cache please e-mail me in response to this archival and, if possible, I will unarchive your cache.

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The Seanachai
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GCW7W2 ▼

A cache by Doublestuff Message this owner

Hidden : 5/23/2006

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

A quick and easy park and find on the shores of Grafton's Silver Lake. The area is popular muggle fishing area, so stealth maybe required. There is GPS bounce here depending on tree cover. The coords are likely off. Please note "found" coordinates and post them so I can properly update the cache listing.

I Know, I know, why is there a new cache about Valentine's at the end of May. Aren't you a couple of months late? Actually yes, I am late, so this will be a regular old cache from March to January. In February it will be a Valentine Cache (leave only Valentines for your caching friends)

However, there is a reason for this cache and it’s location.

Did you know where the first Valentine was made in America? Many say Worcester by Esther Howland, but we in Grafton would like think our own Jotham Taft who lived not to far from this cache on Silver Lake made the first Valentine in the early 1840s

For many years, there has been controversy over who made the first Valentine in America.

The Taft family from Grafton claims that Jotham Taft manufactured the first one in the early 1840s. However, it has always been that Worcester was at the heart commercial valentine industry in the United States in 1847. Ruth Webb Lee, author of A History of Valentines, says that Esther Howland made the first valentine in 1849. Esther supposedly, received one from a man who worked with her father. She copied it and this the start of her own business of making Valentines. In Frederick Pierce's book, History of Grafton, There is evidence that Taft made the first Valentine in America with a reference to the North Grafton Valentine factory.

"According to local folklore, Worcester resident Esther Howland received an English valentine, which inspired her to design her own. She sold her cards through her father's stationery store. Business flourished, and Esther recruited friends to assemble cards in a third-floor room at the family residence, 16 Summer Street. The Taft family believes that Jotham bought a Valentine during a trip to Europe in 1839. He brought it home, and began making them in an upstairs room in his house near Silver Lake, an area then called "Kitville." Soon, the business became too big to keep in his home, so he moved his company to a shop in "New England Village," now known as North Grafton."

"However, the beginnings of the history of Valentine manufacturing is questionable. While it is generally agreed that Esther Howland was the first to make valentines in Worcester, according to Taft family folklore, Jotham Taft might have already been at work assembling Valentines in Grafton. Jotham and his wife built a successful valentine industry from their home in the early 1840s. Jotham's son Edward formed a partnership with Esther Howland in 1879, called the New England Valentine Company."

In 1863, George C. Whitney joined his brother Edward in the family stationery store begun by their late brother Sumner, at 218 Main Street. The brothers worked together as the Whitney Valentine Company until 1869, when Edward withdrew from the partnership. In 1881, George C. Whitney bought the New England Valentine Company in 1866. The George C. Whitney Company stayed in business until 1942, when World War Two was going on and there were paper shortages."

Takes some time to explore Silver lake and nearby Kitville dam.

Grafton's Story: http://www.grafton.k12.ma.us/VirtualHistoryTour/Industry/valentines.cfm
Worcester's Story: http://www.worcesterhistory.org/wo-valentines.html

-- Announcing the availability of the First Massachusetts GeoCoin --
-- There are still some RE Antique Nickel coins still available --
-- If your are interested contact us for more information --

Additional Hints (No hints available.)

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Would you be my Valentine Cache Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

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