Violets are low-lying, gentle flowers, and for the Victorians they symbolised modesty. Hence the expression “shrinking violet”, meaning a person who is very shy or modest and does not like to attract attention. But the violets in the IPBA Virtual Museum are sometimes very bold!
England’s violet trade peaked in the 1930’s. The flower was the favourite of three successive queens: Victoria, Alexandra and Mary, and high demand was initially met with flowers imported from the South of France or grown in market gardens surrounding Bristol and London. Later, with the expansion of cities and the introduction of the railway, this sweet-scented industry moved southwest to Devon. Over 200 acres of land around Dawlish on the south coast was once carpeted in nodding violets in every shade of purple, pink, white and apricot. Being on the GWR line, the express flower train would then shuttle them up to London to market. During World War II the violet trade began its gradual decline, with the last flower train departing from Dawlish in 1968. Source: “All Hail the Violet Train” article by Daisy Dawnay.
Parma, Italy was another major source of violets, and a particular strain of violets has been named the Parma Violet.
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