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The most famous of all the symbols for love is Cupid, the mischievous, winged child armed with bow and arrow, ready to pierce hearts. His arrow signifies the emotion of love, and when he aims that arrow at humans, it causes them to fall deeply in love. Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Romans, he was Cupid, the young son of Venus.

In Roman mythology, Psyche the beautiful princess was loved by Cupid. Venus, Cupid's mother, the goddess of love, was jealous of Psyche's beauty and ordered her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. Instead Cupid fell in love with Psyche and carried her off to a secluded palace where he visited her only by night, unseen and unrecognized by her. Cupid forbade her ever to look at his face but at her sisters persuasion, Psyche lit a lamp and looked upon him while he slept. As punishment, Cupid abandoned her, leaving Psyche to wander desolately throughout the world in search of him. Eventually she wandered into the temple of Venus, who hoping to destroy her, gave her tasks each being more dangerous than the last.

Her last task for Psyche was to take a little box to the underworld, where she was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box. She was warned not to open the box but temptation overcame Psyche and she opened the box. Instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber.

Cupid found her lifeless, slumbering body on the ground. He gathered the deadly sleep from her body and put it back in the box, forgiving her, as did Venus. Jupiter, king of the gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid, made her a goddess.

And with that, Cupid became the immortalized symbol of love. Postcards donning winged children with bows and arrows were never as popular as they were in the early years of 1900-1914. Today, these same postcards, especially in good condition, are becoming expensive and harder to find as collectors snatch them up for their collections.

Bibliography:
The Tale of Cupid and Psyche: An Illustrated History, Sonia Cavicchioli, 2002