From Deseret News archives:

Heart to heart — Tradition of sending valentines has evolved throughout the years

Published: Friday, Feb. 9, 2007 12:12 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Old valentines can be a lot of fun, because they are all about love and friendship. "It's interesting to see how people shared those feelings in past years," says Edith Menna, curator at the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum.

The museum has a small collection of pioneer-era and later valentines. "It's always interesting to look at the pretty things people had at a time when pretty was often hard to come by," Menna says. "That can tell you a lot about people." It's also fun to see how different they are from today's valentines, she says. "You can see how they have evolved."

The museum has some hand-cut paper pioneer valentines, one "cut by Clarissa Wilcox Muling at the age of 84." They have some early Victorian lace designs, but most of the collection comes from around the 1900s to the 1920s.

Among Menna's favorites are those with moving parts: a tissue honeycomb that folds down; a pendulum that swings; a chicken that bends down to eat the grain. "They are awfully cute," she says.

It is sometimes hard to tell exactly when valentines were made, says Nyal Anderson, at the Beehive Collector's Gallery, located at 368 E. Broadway (533-0119).

Most of them are unsigned as to artist or printer, so, he says, you have to look for clues in the style and the attire.

Story continues below
Kate Greenway, a British artist who lived from 1846 to 1901, was one of the leading commercial artists of her day and did some valentines. Esther A. Howland, a student at Mount Holyoke College whose father owned a stationery store in Worcester, Mass., mass-produced the first American commercial valentines. Her valentines had a little red "H" on the back.

"Some of the illustrators who were making post cards also made valentines," says Anderson, but a lot of them don't have the names.

Old valentines are popular collectibles, he says, because they are still fairly inexpensive. Valentines in his shop range from $2 for the smaller ones to $25 for the larger, more elaborate ones.

Some people now buy the old valentines to give to their friends and sweethearts. They're better than many of the cheap valentines you get today, he says.

Not all valentines were full of love and adoration, however. One interesting trend came along in the mid- to late-1800s and beyond with cards known as Penny Dreadfuls (because they cost a penny), Vinegar Valentines or simply Comic Valentines.

Generally, the artwork was simple and the verses insulting. "Great Mouth But Little Brain" said one with a picture of a wide-mouthed, pointy-headed man. The verse proclaimed:

You seem to have been constructed

On a very curious plan,

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image

Early valentines capture the styles and flavors of yesteryear.

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh get the audience they deserve and vice versa. ...

I find the rule,very discriminitory. I am not gay, I don't understand what...

Celtics crush Jazz

I understand we were outmanned last night. However, this effort was awful....

Tavernari has matured

My advice to Jonathan is shoot it when they pass it to you as soon as you...

Maybe they should try drafting a shooting guard who can shoot from outside ....

The sad thing about it is that there are actually people out there that are...

12 Utes return to Texas

Thank you TCU and BYU. Your wanting to beat Utah so bad has to drive you...

Celtics crush Jazz

Play fes and koufos. Look to the future. It looks like we will have two...

Letters: Obama 'too busy'

Oh come on. Obama's a horrible president, but I couldn't care less which...

"We had the best soccer of any place in the state. There's no disputing...

Advertisements
Advertisement