Violets Were in Vogue for Decades

Why did they lose their popularity?

Violet, my beloved Mini Pinscher, and pansies, a type of violet.

Despite this being my fifth summer in my house, I am still arranging the garden to be most beneficial to pollinators (always my top priority) and to maximize my minimal space. Where my Japanese maple once stood is now the cut flower garden— dahlias, zinnias, gazanias, and Canterbury bells so far, until the sugar maple grows tall enough to shade it all out. The plot has a lot of violets growing there, and I am trying to get them to grow in the opposite direction down the slope. I am having some luck.

Violets can be a nuisance in your yard. They are rhizomes which means they spread through a horizontal underground stem that sends up shoots laterally. When you pull out a plant, it sends up new shoot. As both an New York University alum and Roald Dahl fan¹ who named their first dog Violet, I can’t get rid of them. I love their color, and they are edible. And as it turns out, the Hudson Valley was once home to the violet capital of the world.

Photo by author.

Violets Were Popular for Decades

At one time, violets were the n Number 1 source of income in Dutchess County, New York. Why? From the Gilded Age through the Depression, violets were a symbol of high fashion, and the world’d most popular flower. A gardener named William Saltford imported violets from England for estates in the area. His brother, George, took some of the plants to Rhinebeck to start his own business, where they flourished. Rhinebeck, a lovely town along the Hudson River became the “Violet Capital of the World,” and was also known as “The Crystal City” due to the number of greenhouses that reflected in the sunlight. (Fun Fact: I grew up in the one-time “Carnation Capital of the World.”) At its height, 20% of the population in the area was involved in violet production, a reminder that industries come and go all the time.

They were coveted for corsages and bouquets for Valentine’s Day and Easter. Men bought violet corsages for their dates to the Yale-Harvard football game, and they were also an important part of the National Horse Show. Eleanor Roosevelt wore them to every presidential inauguration.

Violets also became popular in everything from candies to candles, so naturally they would make their way to alcohol. The Aviation cocktail is what it is was most known for, a pre-prohibition conconction made of creme de violette, gin, lemon juice and a maraschino cherry. This cocktail eventually became associated with old ladies, and creme de violette disappeared from the shelves until there was a renewed interest in it around 2009.