Believing that birds began to mate on February 14,
people in the Middle Ages started the card tradition by sending love
letters on that day.
In the 15th century, singing and spoken valentines were slowly
replaced by written letters in Europe. The first written valentine
is credited to Charles, the Duke of Orleans, who wrote love poems to
his wife while he was in prison in 1415. By the beginning of the
16th century, valentines were almost always written.
Early valentines were hand made on colored paper. Often they were
tinted with water colors and inks. Other types of valentines found
during this era were:
Acrostic - the first line of the
verses spelled out the recipient's name
Cutout - the paper was folded and
cut into a lace-like design using small, pointed scissors.
Pinprick - using a pin or needle,
tiny holes were punched in the paper to make it look like lace.
Theorem or Poonah - a stencil was used to help paint on designs
that stood for words. For example, the word foot would be replaced
by a picture of a foot.
Puzzle Purse - the paper was a
folded puzzle with verses written in the folds. Each verse must be
read in a specific order and the puzzle refolded correctly.
Fraktur - the letters were written
in a decorative style to imitate the illuminated manuscripts used in
the Middle Ages.
The 1800s saw valentines made by factory workers. Black and white
pictures were painted by the workers in the early part of the
century. By the end of the 1800s, the cards were made by machines.
These cards were elaborately decorated with gold leaf, satin, lace and
flowers.
In 1840, the first mass produced valentine's cards where made in
America. Esther Howland, who sold ,000 worth of the cards in her
first year, created them. |