Bouquet of Roses” is a 1948 song written by Steve Nelson and Bob Hilliard . It was originally recorded by Eddy Arnold and his Tennessee Plow Boys and his Guitar in Chicago on May 18, 1947. “Bouquet of Roses” was Eddy Arnold’s third number one in a row on the Juke Box Folk Record chart and spent 19 weeks on the Best Selling. The song spent 54 weeks on the country music charts, accounting for the longest amount of time spent on that chart.
Based on fossil evidence, the rose itself has existed for over 35 million years. The connotations of romance were almost immediately adopted once humans started crafting culture and art. According to some Greek historians, Cupid accidentally shot arrows into a rose garden after being stung by a bee, causing the flowers to grow thorns. Later, as Aphrodite walked through the garden, she pricked her foot on a thorn and bled, the color of her blood turning the roses red. Wealthy Romans reportedly filled their bedchambers with bouquets of roses to provide a soft, pleasant-smelling surface for their amorous encounters. It was a symbol of love and beauty associated with the goddess, but also came to stand for secrecy after Cupid offered a rose to the God of Silence to keep quiet Venus’s affairs. Roman dining room ceilings were decorated with roses to urge guests to keep quiet about what was said at dinner, and “sub rosa” or “under the rose” still means “confidentially” today. In Christianity, the red rose became the symbol of the Virgin Mary dating back to the third century AD. At that time, Saint Ambrose believed the Garden of Eden was full of thornless roses, which gained their thorns after the fall and symbolized Original Sin. Because of this, the Virgin Mary is often referred to as the “rose without thorns.” We owe the tradition of growing roses in a garden to the East. Garden cultivation of roses dates back to China about 5,000 years ago. However, there are also many Eastern cultural beliefs and legends that tie the rose back to romance. Hindu beliefs dating back centuries hold that Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of fortune and prosperity and wife of Lord Vishnu, was created from 108 large and 1,008 small rose petals. Vishnu intensely loved his wife, creating a firm link between roses and romance.