Cupid’s Message:

A Selection of Vintage Valentines

2016
February 2 – 27

Named for a Roman priest who married couples against the wishes of Emperor Claudius, St. Valentine’s Day was officially established in 496 AD. When the holiday spread to England in the 1500s, it grew into a celebration of passion when lovers exchanged flowers and sentimental notes of affection.

Commercial valentine cards appeared in England in the early 1800s and were remarkable for their use of elegant materials such as lace and gold leaf. One of these ornate valentines was sent to a young American woman named Esther Howland (1828-1904).

Howland found the card so unusual and so lovely that she decided to create her own in the late 1840s. Her father owned a successful stationary store and was able to order the special materials needed to create her beautiful valentines. An immediate success with customers, she enlisted the help of friends to hand make the cards, thus bringing the valentine card craze to America.

Exchanging gifts and notes in celebration of Valentine’s Day became common in the mid-18th century with mass-produced cards available for the first time in the United States in the early 1830s. Hallmark Cards produced their first Valentine’s Day card in 1913 and today it is estimated that nearly 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year.

Join as we celebrate this holiday centered on love and affection and to trace the history of sending sentiment from its hand-made origins through its lacy traditions to its place as a modern-day commercial powerhouse.

On display are Valentine’s Day cards from the late 19th century and early-to-mid 20th century. The exhibition is a lovely way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and the special notes and tokens of affection that are commonly exchanged this time of year.

Curator:   Sara Crown