Ever wonder how the tradition of giving cut flowers as gifts started? In general, I think we all just love the natural beauty of flowers and the way they uplift our spirits, so they seem like an obvious gift. While this is true, the history of sending cut flowers as gifts is broad and very interesting.
There is evidence of cut flowers for decoration in homes in ancient civilizations including Egyptian, Roman and Greek. There is even evidence of cut flowers in the cave dwellings of prehistoric man, believed to often be used for medicinal purposes as well as adornments. Archeologists believe these cut flowers were often given as gifts with get well messages for the recipients.
One of the most interesting histories of flower gifting was in the Victorian era in England, under the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). In this era, flowers adored hair, clothing, jewelry, men's lapels, home décor, stationary and more. The gift of flowers was often used to convey messages that the sender could not otherwise speak of, because conveying these types of messages directly was considered highly unacceptable in high society. Risqué! For example, a gentleman could send a lady flowers, and depending on the type or size of the flowers he choose, he would convey "like" or "dislike" for the recipient. The position the flowers were presented in would also convey a message. Holding the flowers upright conveyed a positive message, whereas handing them to the recipient in a downward fashion conveyed a negative message. This allowed people to send messages between each other secretly. Even more, a person could answer a question with YES by offering a flower with the right hand - and NO, by using the left hand.
In the Victorian era, one of the most popular gifts were called "Tussie-Mussies" and were small bouquets of cut flowers, wrapped in a lace doily and tied with satin. A consistent past time of young lovers was to send these Tussie-Mussies to their sweethearts with secret messages. Very romantic!
One could compare these subtle messages to the modern tradition of sending different rose colors. Every girl knows a bouquet of yellow roses means friendship, not love! Gifts can often be a daunting task, but in our experience sending flowers is always well received. Have fun using these traditions in your modern day romance (or friendship)!
