Results: The History of Valentine Cards

It was in Georgian Britain that pre-printed cards first began to appear, though these were not yet as popular as they were eventually to become. Perhaps the oldest surviving example dates from 1797: this card, held at York Castle Museum, was sent by one Catherine Mossday to a Mr Brown of London. It is decorated with flowers and images of Cupid, with a verse printed around the border reading: Since on this ever Happy day,
 All Nature's full of Love and Play 
Yet harmless still if my design,
 'Tis but to be your Valentine. Did you send any valentine cards this year?

Victorian Valentines - The industrialisation of Britain in the early 19th-century brought with it rapid advances in printing and manufacturing technologies. It became easier than ever to mass-produce Valentine's cards, which soon became immensely popular. It is estimated that by the mid 1820s, some 200,000 Valentines were circulated in London alone. The introduction of the Uniform Penny Post [a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UK's official postal service, that took place in the 19th century] in 1840 bolstered the popularity of Valentine's cards yet further: reports suggest that by the late 1840s the amount of cards being circulated doubled, doubling once again in the next two decades. Have you ever received an elaborate Valentine Card?

Many Victorian Valentine's cards survive, but most intriguing is a collection of more than 1,700 examples that is held at the Museum of London. This is the archive of the stationer Jonathan King, who ran a card-making enterprise in London. This collection, which has been digitised, demonstrates the huge array of designs, verses and sentiments that were popular with lovers in Victorian Britain. Cards tended to feature elaborate paper lacework, embossing and other intricate designs. The more expensive the card, the more elaborate the design would be. This meant it would be obvious how much your lover had spent on a card! Typical imagery included flowers, love knots and Cupid. Though hearts were sometimes used, Victorian cards did not feature the ubiquitous red hearts that are so typical of Valentine's cards today. Do you prefer modern Valentine Cards to Victorian Valentine Cards?

Lucy Worsley visited this collection in her October 2015 BBC series A Very British Romance. The programme featured the most elaborate card in the collection, which was made by Jonathan King himself for the woman he loved. This huge card boasts layer after layer of lace, decorated with embroidery, beads, ribbons and shells. It includes many lines of poetry, and even a secret concealed card featuring a paper chest of drawers. Each drawer lists a womanly virtue, but in the final drawer is a gold ring. This suggests that the card actually served as King's proposal to his future wife. Happily, she accepted his offer, and this romantic couple went on to have 15 children, one of whom was appropriately named Valentine. Were you aware of Jonathan King prior to this survey?

Esther Howland, known as "New England's first career woman," was a visionary artist and entrepreneur who popularized Valentine's Day cards in the United States. Beautiful and elaborate European valentines were available in mid-nineteenth-century America, but their cost and rarity limited their market to a wealthy elite. Stationers in New York City produced lithographed valentines in large quantities, but they could hardly compare to the handcrafted valentines Esther Howland made famous. Have you seen an original Exther Howland Valentine Card?