every one in class. They were little one "page" glossy cards in the shape of hearts. Our mothers bought them in packages of 25 or 30 at stationary stores or at discount stores like Grant's or Murphy's.
The cards had different sayings on them, like little candy hearts did: Be mine. My favorite Valentine. Will you be my Valentine? Happy Valentine's Day. Etc. We gave one out to every kid in class. I don't remember if that was a rule set by teachers or just the custom.
No school sponsored Valentine activities in junior and senior high. But kids who were paired off bought their own cards or gifts for their S.O.s.
There was one memorable Valentines day from high school. I'd been dating a guy off and on for a couple years. He was a college freshman when I was a high school junior. On Valentine's Day he proposed marriage and talked about running off to a state where we'd be old enough without parental consent. My first thought was, "I haven't even finished high school!" But I didn't say it. Actually, I was speechless. We had been getting more serious, but were not "going steady" at the time. He said to think it over a couple days before answering.
When he took me home, my mother met us at the door and said that someone was waiting for me. My boyfriend followed us into the kitchen where my uncle greeted me with a huge heart snapped box of chocolates before I could make introductions. He was my father's younger brother and also my godfather. He always bought me gifts for holidays and my birthday. He was married with 3 kids but looked younger than his age and was very good looking. I thanked him and gave him a hug.
At that point, the boyfriend clenched his fists and was visibly angry. He said he was not going to play second fiddle to anyone or be treated like a fool. When my mother and I realized his mistake, we started laughing and introduced my uncle/godfather.
Next day at school I learned that he had also proposed on Valentine's Day to a senior girl at my school that he had dated. But she was going to college the next year and told her friends (I overheard the conversation) that she would not marry until after college. So I thought, who was playing whom for a fool? When he picked me up a couple days later for my answer, I asked if that meant that the other girl had turned him down.
We went out once after that and then no more. Later I learned that he had been eager to marry someone, anyone, in order to avoid the draft because he was dropping out of college and would lose his draft deferment for Vietnam. So a few months after his double proposals, be got another girl pregnant and they married right away.
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