Historic Valentine's Day Cards

Why did we start sending Valentine's Day cards?

Love it or hate it, sending Valentine's Day cards has been a holiday tradition in the United States for almost 200 years!

Quotation inside card: "So strong's the flame of love for thee that in my heart doth burn, this world to me were paradise didst thou but love me in return."

Courtesy Library of Congress

The Valentine’s Day ritual of sending cards rose in popularity in Britain in the early 1800s. This was triggered by the standardization of the postal fee – 1 penny for a Valentine’s Day card. In the United States on the other hand, Valentine’s Day wasn’t widely recognized. There are references to the Saint’s Day in early 19th century calendars, but it wasn’t popular on this side of the Atlantic quite yet.

Starting in the 1840s, the British trend caught on, and sending cards became very fashionable in New York. The popularity spread to other cities and the rural parts of America. Mass-produced cards, and in the early days mostly imported from Britain, became increasingly popular.

Victorian Valentine’s Day cards are beautiful, elaborate, pieces of art. Ornate in style, they typically were trimmed with lace and other fabrics. They often would hide gifts. And even back in the 1800s, you could see cards that would cost $40! Following popular trends, cards had themes like “California: 1849” in honor of the Gold Rush. And in the mid-1800s you wouldn't just send a card to your romantic partner, but also your friends and family. There were also cards that were intended to humorous, but could actually be quite cruel and disparaging. These types of cards remained popular into the early 1900s.

I Think of Thee Dear Love of Mine the Best of All That's Not Divine. , 1882.

L. Prang & Co., Publisher. I Think of Thee Dear Love of Mine the Best of All That's Not Divine. , 1882. [Boston: Published by L. Prang & Co., Boston] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016652334/.

Not everyone could afford such expensive cards or get to the cities to buy them. Pioneers would use whatever they had around the house to recreate similar styles to those available in the stores. They certainly didn’t have elaborate mass-produced cards readily available to them. Because of this, handmade cards became very prevalent between 1840 and 1860.

After the 1860s the number of handmade cards declined, and just like the industrialization of other markets, commercially made cards became the most popular. This trend continued into the 1900s and is still something we see today.

Sources

McNamara, R. (n.d.). History of St. Valentine's day in the 1800s. Retrieved February 12, 2021,

from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-st-valentines-day-1800s-1773915

History.com Editors. (2009, December 22). History of Valentine's Day. Retrieved February 12, 2021,

from https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2

Schmidt, L. E. (1993). The fashioning of a Modern Holiday: St. Valentine's DAY, 1840-1870. Winterthur Portfolio,

28(4), 209-245. doi:10.1086/496627

Images

Saint Valentine's Day. , 1861. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2006679063/.

L. Prang & Co., Publisher. I Think of Thee Dear Love of Mine the Best of All That's Not Divine. , 1882.

[Boston: Published by L. Prang & Co., Boston] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016652334/.

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