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| The Original Love Box that little Vermont sent to her big brother, Alfred in 1985 |
Valentine’s Day is now upon us! This is the time of year when
department stores make millions (if not billions) on Valentine cards, chocolate
and all the pink and red stuff you find in special aisles devoted to this time
of year. With nothing exciting happening around Riverville, New York (unless
you think “Mr. Mill Wins Local Pie Contest” is exciting) , I thought today’s
story should be a tribute to a very special moment in history – in 1985, the
year the very first Love Box was shipped across the world. It was February, so
naturally, everyone was getting ready for Valentine’s and a little 9-year old
girl named Vermont Greene (who “coincidentally” lived in Vermont) wanted to
send her 21-year old brother, Alfred Greene who was fighting in Afghanistan, a
special valentine to cheer him up. She wanted to send something special,
something that would be remembered but something that wouldn’t tear up so
easily. She decided on a cute little wooden box with a few Valentine things
inside. So she and her parents went to the local carpentry shop where a friend
of the family, Philip Woodward worked and asked him to handcraft a little box
so Vermont could send it to her brother. Philip took on the assignment and made
a 4x5 box shaped like a heart that said, “I love you!” on the front. So Vermont
sent her little box from Vermont all the way to Afghanistan. Pretty soon, a lot
of Alfred’s co-workers were getting a little jealous because they only got
cards for Valentine’s Day. Since it isn’t wise to have jealous friends, Alfred
went to a local craftsman and had him make a counterfeit box so he could
occasionally rent the box to his friends so they could have it for a while (he
didn’t want to use the box his sister gave him because then it wouldn’t be very
special). He found that by putting perfume on the box, he could charge it for a
little more than usual. Next year, in the February of 1986, the war was won and
one of Alfred’s friends, Timmy Greenwell wanted to send a “Love Box” to his
girlfriend named Maggie Pitworth, so as you can imagine, it started catching
on. Then some of Maggie’s friends got a little jealous because their boyfriends
only sent cards so she started the renting thing as well. Now the boxes were
starting to catch on a lot! The idea was made known nationally by William Sty,
who did much to promote these Love Boxes and that’s what they are called today,
as the tradition continues. Today, people will stuff these little wood boxes
with a card, chocolates and other things and ship them to their lovers. But it
all started with a little girl named Vermont who wanted to cheer up her
brother. So why not go down to the store, or better yet, your local craftsman
and get a Love Box and share it with someone you love?
Written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian
Ryan
Weekly Cartoons
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