The Mother of All Valentines

February 14th, a day full of cards, chocolate and flowers. Throughout my Elementary school years every Valentine’s Day class party had the notorious card ceremony where everyone in the class passed out the latest Barbie or Hot Wheels mini card that had spectacular well wishes on them. Looking back on these fine memories I became interested on who started the tradition of giving Valentine’s Day cards and decided to look up the history of this tradition.

According to the American Greeting Card Association, 190 million cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day in the United States each year. [1] But how did this tradition start? The oldest written Valentine’s Day card is housed in the British Museum and was written by Charles the Duke of Orleans in 1415.[2] Prior to the mid 19th century Valentine’s were not mass produced in the United States. Instead, wealthier Americans imported their cards from London. These cards consisted of sentimental verses, flowers and lace.[3] Since the imported cards were very expensive many American made their own Valentines, thus a market for mass produced inexpensive cards existed.

It was not until the 1840s when America started mass producing Valentine’s Day cards. After receiving a card from London, a young woman from Worcester, Massachusetts named Esther Howland decided to begin making her own cards. Following the same fashion of the European cards, Howland used lace and flower imprints to design her cards. Howland’s father, a book and stationary store owner, helped with her ambitions to bring romantic cards to the American public. Her father imported “embossed and perforated lace paper” and she made sample Valentines.[4] After sending her brother out with samples, he returned with 5,000 dollars in orders and Howland’s career as the Mother of Valentines. [5]

In order to keep up with the demand, Howland developed a home grown assembly line. She hired girls and assigned each employee a specific task. Soon her cottage industry grew and she had to move to larger quarters, essentially becoming the first Valentine Card industry in America.[6] Though “competitors soon flattered her with imitation,” Howland’s innovative designs kept a cut above the competition.[7] Her most famous card was her inventive shadow box design. Howland placed a “colored wafer of paper under the white lace” to create a layered look.[8] Her beautiful cards remained favorites amongst the American public so much to the point that Howland’s business eventually grossed 100,000 dollars annually.[9]

In 1881 Howland sold her industry to George Whitney, a stationer in Worcester who had a Howland-style of Valentine machine cut cards.[10] Whitney’s company became “one of the largest valentine publishers in this country with offices in New York, Boston and Chicago.”[11] Whitney installed machinery to create the paper that Howland used but continued to imitate Howland’s designs. Whitney’s company made cards until 1942 and enjoyed the success that Howland herself had achieved.

The history of American Valentine’s Day cards is truly and American story of industrialization and innovation. Though Howland never married,[12] her cards provided the American public with a simple way to send love on Valentine’s Day. So now when your buying cards to send to a love one or friend just remember that this small tradition has an interesting past.



[1] American Greetings, “The Business of Valentine’s Day” (http://pressroom.americangreetings.com/archives/val07/valbiz07.html) 2006.
[2] West Sussex Grid for Learning, “St. Valentine’s Day” (http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content/topics/02/st-valentines-day.en?page=2) 2008.
[3] Greeting Card Association, “Major Holidays” (http://www.greetingcard.org/thegreetingcard_holidays.html) 2008.
[4] Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, “Mass Moments” (http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=52) 2008
[5] Ibid.
[6] American Heritage Magazine, “The Amorous Art of Esther Howland” (http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1982/2/1982_2_25.shtml) 2006.
[7] American Antiquarian Society, “Making Valentines” (http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Valentines/howland.htm) 2004.

[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, “Mass Moments” (http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=52) 2008.
[11] American Antiquarian Society, “Making Valentines” (http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Valentines/howland.htm) 2004.
[12] American Heritage Magazine, “The Amorous Art of Esther Howland” (http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1982/2/1982_2_25.shtml) 2006.