Columbus Valentine's treats through the decades
We wined, we dined, we Valentined... Here’s a sampling of how we celebrated the occasion in Columbus over the past 100 years. In earlier decades, it was more widely known as “St. Valentine’s Day,” with the “Saint” included.
2012: Gateway Film Center in the University District had its annual Valentine’s Day screening of the comedic “Shaun of the Dead.” Mary Kelley’s in Dublin had a 10-ounce prime rib special for $19.
2002: Salvi’s Bistro on the West Side offered a choice of chicken Marsala, house-made lasagna or lake perch, plus dessert, for $26.97 per couple. All 10 Tee Jaye’s Country Place locations sold $9.99 steak dinners for two with $2.10 extra for a chocolate dessert. JP’s Barbeque at Bolton Field advertised a meal for two, with a romantic airplane ride around the city, for $89.95.
1992: Couples flocked to Spinnaker’s at Columbus City Center for a complete dinner for two plus champagne or wine for $19.95. Boston Chicken in Bexley, opened just a week prior, was new to the Columbus area and was mobbed. It later would become Boston Market.
1982: A glass-enclosed outdoor elevator ride up to One Nation, atop the Nationwide Insurance building, was a memorable prelude to a meal in one of its four separate dining rooms, each with a regional American theme: The Heartlands, The Old South, Down East or Southwest. National Record Mart (Hamilton Plaza, Westerville Mall, Lane Avenue) offered a free 45 rpm record (with a $10 purchase).
1972: SuperX Drug Stores sold a double pack of 56 Valentine cards for kids (including one for the teacher) for 39 cents. The Lincoln Lodge on West Broad Street invited couples to enjoy a romantic Colonial setting and prime rib, potato and salad bar for $3.95. If you didn’t feel like dressing up and going out, Grandma’s Take-Home Fried Chicken (Lockbourne Road, Indianola Avenue and South Hamilton Road) turned out dinners for $1 each – with three pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw and a roll.
1962: Presutti’s Villa on West 5th Avenue had a sweetheart of a T-Bone steak dinner special for $3.25, accompanied by Walter Knick at the Steinway piano.
1952: Flying Chicken at 2657 N. High St. (site of Hounddog’s Pizza today) was delivering complete, hot chicken or shrimp dinners to your home, $3.25. Their ad: “She’ll love the Valentine Treat … of a Chicken Dinner without the Oven Heat.”
1942: Downtown department store Morehouse-Martens (“Toiletries — First Floor”) sold 32 new and classic Valentine perfumes by the dram. You could call in your order.
1932: Betty Fairfax offered advice in her newspaper column under this headline: “Romance is fostered by Valentines. Grouches only ones to ignore day for sending devotion missives.”
1922: Wendt-Bristol Drugs, 47 S. High St., advertised a pound of chocolates and bon-bons for 49 cents: “There’s delicious toothsomeness and wholesomeness in our assortments, beautifully and appropriately packed in special boxes.” Nearby, Lazarus was having its semi-annual toilet goods sale, with “Melba’s Famous Preparations,” including Lov’me Toilet Water and Lov’me Face Powder.
Every year since 1952, when it was founded here in Columbus: The Anthony-Thomas Candy Co.’s chocolates remain a classic Valentine gift.
Contributor Linda Deitch was a Dispatch librarian for 25 years.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 100 years of Valentine's Day treats in Columbus
