A Victorian Valentine

The first paper Valentine's Day greeting cards go back the early 1400s. A revival of the Valentine's Day greeting card began to take place in Great Britian because of the availablity of printed cards and the decrease in postage costs. This made the token of a Valentine exchange more accessible for the masses.

In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced paper valentines in America.

Most recently, technological advancements have taken this tradition of card exchange to the next level, by provided Valentine’s Day e-card. It's a great way to get a quick card out with very little cost or delay, but frankly I still prefer snail mail.

This year I had the great luck to participate in a Victorian Themed Valentine's Day greeting card exchange with four other people from my Ravelry group, The Victorians.

Each person mailed a Victorian themed card to the other four in the group. The card could be handmade or purchased. These are the lovely results of my exchange, with one exception. The image found at the top of this page is in fact not a card but a sticker that was custom made and decorated the outer envelope of one of the card I received. It reads "To my Ravelry Valentine" I loved it so much, I had to include the image with the cards.

This beautiful handmade card has a portrait of a Victorian couple, not identified, in a sepia. I found it amusing that the outer envelope included a postage stamp of Edgar Allen Poe, How appropriate! A quote is found on the top left hand corner.

" Love me sweet, with all thou art,
Feeling, thinking, seeing,
Love me in the lightest part,
Love me in full being"

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning