Valentine's Day Cards
A sentimental or humorous greeting card to a sweetheart, friend, or family member on Saint Valentine's Day is called valentine. Verses and Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sang their valentines. Written valentines began to appear after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, can be viewed today at the British Museum in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois. There were many different types of handmade valentines, including:
Acrostic valentines - had verses in which the first lines spelled out the loved one's name.
Cutout valentines - made by folding the paper several times and then cutting out a lacelike design with small, sharp, pointed scissors
Pinprick valentines - made by pricking tiny holes in a paper with a pin or needle. creating the look of lace
Theorem or Poonah valentines - designs that were painted through a stencil cut in oil paper, a style that came from the Orient
Rebus valentines - verses in which tiny pictures take the place of some of the words (an eye would take the place of the word "1")
Puzzle Purse valentines - a folded puzzle to read and refold. Among their many folds were verses that had to be read in a certain order.
Fraktur valentines - had ornamental lettering in the style of illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
In the early 1800s, valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early manufactured valentines were black and white pictures that were painted by workers in a factory. Fancy valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, cards with paper lace were introduced in the mid 1800s. By the end of the 1800s valentines were being made entirely by machine.
Valentine cards are manufactured on an enormous scale today that range from the sentimental to sophisticated and humorous valentines. There is a valentine for everyone - sweetheart, spouse, children, parents, teacher and even your pet! In terms of the number of greeting cards sent, Valentine's Day ranks second only to Christmas.
In our century we've seen a change from the heavy sentimentality of earlier days to what can best be described as a light touch. Nowadays a valentine usually accompanies a more elaborate gift of candy, flowers, perfume, etc.