Happy early Valentine’s Day! Admittedly, this is a holiday that seems to have fallen by the wayside in my life as the years go by. Nonetheless, I figured I would give this holiday a bit of… hem… love on the blog.
Once you weed out photographs of people named Valentine in a database search there are few returns. This search produced one photograph of a Salmon Arm High School Valentine's Day dance of 1949, some very sweet photographs of Valentine celebrations at Pioneer Lodge in the 1980s, and — bingo — unidentified Miss Valentine, in an unidentified location, at an unidentified time. Something for me to solve!
I started by checking the Salmon Arm Observer index for key word 'Valentine.' This index isn't complete, but it is always a good place to start. This time I found what I was looking for! The headline "Miss Valentine to be Chosen at Notch Hill Dance" was recorded for the January 13th, 1955 issue. This was a possible date and location! The following issues revealed that a Miss Dixie Maxwell of Sorrento was the winner in a Valentine competition held in January. The judges based their decision on personality, charm, and dancing ability. Dixie was also the winner of some fabulous prizes donated by the Salmon Arm, Notch Hill, and Sorrento business communities. Miss Valentine's haul included chocolates, nylon hosiery, gloves, stationary, toilet soap and water, and a pearl necklace. Hmm... maybe I should get reinvested in this holiday... She was to be crowned at the following month's dance on February 19th.
Of course, you can't just assume that our unidentified photograph depicts this particular event. It requires a bit more investigation! I looked for other photographs of Dixie Maxwell I could compare appearances against — no luck. My next move would have been to see if we might have her listed under a different name, but a second glance at the photograph stopped me from looking further. Magnify!
The tiny hearts under the oversized Valentine Queen valentine certainly look to read Dixie Maxwell. This is enough evidence for me!
The article also names the competition runner-up as Dorothy Peacock. Dorothy crowned Dixie at the event and is possibly the second unidentified girl in the photograph. Confirming this will require a bit more work – but that is a job for another day. For now our description can be updated with this new information: Miss Valentine, Dixie Maxwell at a Notch Hill Town Hall Association Valentine dance held at Notch Hill community hall, February 19, 1955. Second girl at right may possibly be Dorothy Peacock.
Photograph used: 2019.0002.0122