Before there were stuffed bears holding chocolate boxes, there were more personal expressions of love in the handwritten letters and small trinkets given to sweethearts, a common practice among soldiers.
“I would rather die then to have anything happen between us,” said a 1946 letter, sent from New Brunswick to Amsterdam.
“I am looking for the day when there will be a telegram for me saying you are on your way to Canada for I can never be happy again until we are together even if it had to be 100 years from now.”
Those lines are from a letter sent 78 years ago by a Second World War gunner from New Brunswick to his Dutch war bride.
Sidney Smith, from Moores Mills, near St. Stephen, wrote to his sweetheart Selma in Amsterdam right before he was demobilized from the military, said David Hughes, manager of the New Brunswick Military History Museum.
The letter expressed Smith’s loneliness and longing as he went to bed alone each night, wishing Selma could be with him.
Another letter from that same year talked about a recent purchase of a brand new $30 mattress and box spring for the two to one day sleep on together.
“It was worth it,” he wrote of the price. “I don’t like to buy very much until you are here for I want to get things that you want.”
David Hughes, manager of the New Brunswick Military History Museum at CFB Gagetown, explains the tradition of military sweetheart pins and showcases several from the museum’s collection.
Hughes said such romantic gestures were common in military romances, including in the form of what were known as sweetheart pins.
“Sweetheart pins were, and still are, gifts that are traditionally given from a soldier to his wife or sweetheart,” said Hughes.
“They’re generally miniature versions of the soldier’s unit badge or shoulder title or some other kind of military identifier, usually done in miniature, often times done in gold or silver, sometimes decorated with enamel to make it more colourful.
“It’s just a symbol of affection and belonging … from the soldier to his sweetheart.”
In Canada, Hughes said these were most common during the First World War, but they were also given during the Second World War and even in modern day.
Hughes said he gave a silver miniature of the Royal Canadian Regiment cap badge to his sweetheart, as well as a set of gold dog tags he had made when he was on a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus.
“It was a big moment for me,” he said. “Hopefully my sweetheart thought so as well.”
As for Sydney Smith and the woman he was pining for, Selma later came to Canada where the couple lived a happy life together.
“I love you so much dear every time I think of you it nearly makes me cry.”
