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| image from vintage holiday crafts.com |
I’m pretty old, but I’m not exactly Victorian. I’m just old enough to remember, back in the day, when we made Valentine Cards. There was a great flurry of white doilies, much tissue paper crinkling and tiny construction paper scraps everywhere. Each card was layered with love and glued to the core of its being, creating sticky but priceless masterpieces. In my house buying valentine cards was considered just as sinful as purchasing a Halloween costume (instead of making it) or putting up an artificial tree at Christmas. They had to be made by hand.
When I reveal the process of crafting elaborate homemade cards to my students they look at me blankly, I get a lot of that, then they ask if they can use Microsoft Publisher and print to the color printer. sigh.
The Victorians were a group that appreciated an ornate Valentine card, the fussier the better. They used silk, flowers, satin, lace, feather and even gold leaf to decorate their cards (I hate to even call them cards, they are tiny canvases) and, before paper lace was invented, they used pins to prick paper and create the look of lace. Apparently they had a little more time on their hands.
We were hot on their trail in America, although we quickly added innovations that would make the whole process easier, faster and cheaper. The penny post replaced previously expensive postage and the Esther A. Howland came along and opened the doors on a mass-produced greeting card business in Worcester, MA. (I previously hadn’t considered Worcester one of the more romantic cities but now ...).
Esther was inspired by a Valentine she received from England in 1847 and had an entrepreneurial “aha” moment. She quickly went about ordering the materials to make cards in her home, enlisting her friends to work on her living room assembly line. Over the years her business grew and flourished. By 1881 she was grossing $100,000 a year and she sold it to the George Whitney Company when she retired. The online Greeting Card and Postcard Museum has some of Esther’s work on display, including one of her first paper lace cards from 1875.
While the history of the Valentine is interesting, they undoubtedly are even more fun to look at then talk about which brings us to The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library ’s “Victorian Valentines Collection Wiki”. The library has categorized more than 300 elaborate Valentines into eight different categories - the cherubs are my favorite, they are so utterly and completely over the top. Ten of the cards have even been animated, bringing them to life for our enjoyment. The Valentine collection is a wiki and visitors are encouraged to edit the site and add their own Valentines or expertise on the subject. This world wide Valentine conversation is a delight and reminds us of a slower time when we enjoyed sweating the small stuff. There was plenty of time to sew costumes from scratch, bake bread, tramp through the snow to find the perfect tree and snip tiny doily hearts. Now we rush through our holidays trying to get everything ‘done’ without taking the time to enjoy what we are doing or appreciate why . So why not get a cup of tea and head to Cincinnati to enjoy some Valentines - give your kids some scissors and construction paper to keep them busy while they wait.
The Cincinnati Library website now has five wonderful wikis to check out and learn from: Teen Photo Contest, Inland Riverboats, Lincoln’s Letters and Frame Cincinnati.
When I reveal the process of crafting elaborate homemade cards to my students they look at me blankly, I get a lot of that, then they ask if they can use Microsoft Publisher and print to the color printer. sigh.
The Victorians were a group that appreciated an ornate Valentine card, the fussier the better. They used silk, flowers, satin, lace, feather and even gold leaf to decorate their cards (I hate to even call them cards, they are tiny canvases) and, before paper lace was invented, they used pins to prick paper and create the look of lace. Apparently they had a little more time on their hands.
We were hot on their trail in America, although we quickly added innovations that would make the whole process easier, faster and cheaper. The penny post replaced previously expensive postage and the Esther A. Howland came along and opened the doors on a mass-produced greeting card business in Worcester, MA. (I previously hadn’t considered Worcester one of the more romantic cities but now ...).
Esther was inspired by a Valentine she received from England in 1847 and had an entrepreneurial “aha” moment. She quickly went about ordering the materials to make cards in her home, enlisting her friends to work on her living room assembly line. Over the years her business grew and flourished. By 1881 she was grossing $100,000 a year and she sold it to the George Whitney Company when she retired. The online Greeting Card and Postcard Museum has some of Esther’s work on display, including one of her first paper lace cards from 1875.
While the history of the Valentine is interesting, they undoubtedly are even more fun to look at then talk about which brings us to The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library ’s “Victorian Valentines Collection Wiki”. The library has categorized more than 300 elaborate Valentines into eight different categories - the cherubs are my favorite, they are so utterly and completely over the top. Ten of the cards have even been animated, bringing them to life for our enjoyment. The Valentine collection is a wiki and visitors are encouraged to edit the site and add their own Valentines or expertise on the subject. This world wide Valentine conversation is a delight and reminds us of a slower time when we enjoyed sweating the small stuff. There was plenty of time to sew costumes from scratch, bake bread, tramp through the snow to find the perfect tree and snip tiny doily hearts. Now we rush through our holidays trying to get everything ‘done’ without taking the time to enjoy what we are doing or appreciate why . So why not get a cup of tea and head to Cincinnati to enjoy some Valentines - give your kids some scissors and construction paper to keep them busy while they wait.
The Cincinnati Library website now has five wonderful wikis to check out and learn from: Teen Photo Contest, Inland Riverboats, Lincoln’s Letters and Frame Cincinnati.
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