(Written for The Meteor February 11, 2019)
Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for centuries. It is not the declaration of love that has changed, but the mode of communication. On a day once known for handmade cards and handwritten sentiments, social media is taking its place. Many people will type Facebook posts, send Instagram bouquets, and email e-cards. Luckily, some people do still send sentiments the “old-fashioned” way, as it has been done for centuries – with a card.
European countries began printing beautiful, colorful valentine cards in the 1800s and many made their way into the US. Esther Howland of Massachusetts is credited with the commercialization of valentine cards in the US in the mid-1800s. She received a valentine from a business associate of her father’s which was decorated with an elaborate fine lace border and cut-out ornate flowers that had been colored and pasted on. In the center of the valentine was a small pale green envelope that contained a note with a red border and a valentine verse. Determined she could make a better valentine, she convinced her father, who owned a stationary store, to order supplies from New York City and England.
Howland made a dozen samples which her salesman brother added to his inventory for his next sales trip for their father’s business. Hoping for $200.00 worth of orders, she was elated when he returned with over $5,000 worth of business for her. Howland employed her women friends and developed a thriving business in Worcester, Massachusetts.
She inspected every card that was produced by her assistants. Her early cards contained short four-line verses pasted inside of them, much like earlier English valentines. This arrangement would eventually become standard for the valentine market.
It would be many years later before the first commercially-printed cards were produced in the US. Hallmark, known as Hall Brothers at the time, began printing cards in 1913. By 1915, the company made all its money from printing and selling valentine and Christmas cards. Today, more than a 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are sold each year, making it the second busiest greeting card period, behind Christmas.
Antique Valentine’s Day greetings are one of the most collectible types of cards. Some lucky collectors are fortunate enough to find and be able to afford an Esther Howland. Others collect Victorian three-dimensional valentines that feature die-cut images that open into three-dimensional views. Later versions from the early 1900s with folded honeycomb paper that pop open into a design are also sought after and can be expensive. Some collectors look for postcard valentines, die-cut school-type valentines from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, and mechanical valentines with moving parts from the 1950s.
The best place to find a valentine card would be grandma’s attic or in a family scrapbook, but many collectors are not so lucky. Other areas to look include auction sites, thrift shops, flea markets, and ephemera shows. And for those who wish to get serious, there is even a National Valentine Collectors Association.
Of course, monetary value means nothing if it is a cherished family piece. If you are fortunate to receive a real card this Valentine’s Day, place it somewhere for safe-keeping. You never know what it might be worth to someone one day.
