Valentines, anyone?

Have you ever heard of Esther Howland? Probably not, but this Massachusetts college student of the 1840s who began producing Valentine's cards for her father's stationery shop can be credited as the founder of the Valentine's industry in America.

To honor this day dedicated to romance and to the support of the greeting card and candy industry, I thought I'd round up a few articles on the history of Valentine's Day and of the vast consumer industry it has spawned.

First, start with this About.com history by Robert McNamara. Once Miss Howland had begun the trend, it spread rapidly:

In 1862 post offices in New York City accepted 21,260 Valentines for delivery. The next year had a slight increase, but then in 1864 the number dropped to only 15,924.A huge change occurred in 1865, perhaps because the dark years of the Civil War were ending. New Yorkers mailed more than 66,000 Valentines in 1865, and more than 86,000 in 1866. The tradition of sending Valentine cards was turning into a big business.

The February 1867 article in the New York Times reveals that some New Yorkers paid exorbitant prices for Valentines:

It puzzles many to understand how one of these trifles can be gotten up in such shape as to make it sell for $100; but the fact is that even this figure is not by any means the limit of their price. ...

Valentines of this class are not simply combinations of paper gorgeously gilded, carefully embossed and elaborately laced. To be sure they show paper lovers seated in paper grottoes, under paper roses, ambushed by paper cupids, and indulging in the luxury of paper kisses; but they also show something more attractive than these paper delights to the overjoyed receiver. Receptacles cunningly prepared may hide watches or other jewelry, and, of course, there is no limit to the lengths to which wealthy and foolish lovers may go.

A recent NPR article takes a look back at the cultural history of this tradition, focusing on "The Dark Origins of Valentine's Day." Another website devoted to all things holiday, The Holiday Spot, provides a detailed history of one of the saints named Valentine who was martyred and for whom the day may have been named. They note:

Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270 AD. Thus 14th February became a day for all lovers and Valentine became its Patron Saint. It began to be annually observed by young Romans who offered handwritten greetings of affection, known as Valentines, on this day to the women they admired. With the coming of Christianity, the day came to be known as St. Valentine's Day. 

But it was only during the 14th century that St. Valentine's Day became definitively associated with love. UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of "Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine", credits Chaucer as the one who first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance. In medieval France and England it was believed that birds mated on February 14. Hence, Chaucer used the image of birds as the symbol of lovers in poems dedicated to the day. In Chaucer's "The Parliament of Fowls," the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine's Day are related: "For this was on St. Valentine's Day, When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate." 

 Today, Valentine's Day is one of the major holidays in the U.S. and has become a booming commercial success. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are "valentines."

The "valentines", as Valentine's Day cards are better known as, are often designed with hearts to symbolize love. The Valentine's Day card spread with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world. 

The History Channel provides us with a brief video from a Valentine card collector about the history of cards:

And I'll leave you with a steampunk valentine! Styles may change, but the sentiments remain the same :^)