Victorian Valentine’s Day Cards

The custom of exchanging love notes on February 14th stretches back centuries, with the earliest known appearing in the 1400s. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century, when inexpensive paper became widely available and new printing technologies emerged. And that helped Valentine-card-making expanded into a full-fledged commercial industry.

In England, the Valentine trade expanded rapidly throughout the nineteenth century. By 1836, as many as 60,000 cards were being sent.

It is believed that Esther Howland was the person who introduced mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards in the United States. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 1847 she received a Valentine card made in England and was instantly fascinated by it. She had an idea to form a business to sell these types of Valentine cards in America.

Esther asked her father who owned a book and stationery store for supplies to make a few prototype Valentine’s Day cards. She created three-dimensional cards using lace, embossed papers, and pictures to make a scrapbook type collage. Sales of these cards exceeded her expectations, and the new business was an instant success. Esther hired women who she graduated with and paid them a larger than normal salary.

The Valentine cards pictured here are Grundy Family Collection cards, donated to the museum by Professor Thomas Schantz. They are prime examples of how intricate and delicate mass-produced cards could be at that time.