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Valentine Cards |
The custom of
exchanging love notes goes back to the Roman
Lupercalia festival with the names being
drawn. But the British were the ones who
popularized sending your feelings to someone
via a printed card. Chrles, Duke of Orleans,
imprisoned in the tower of London for
several years following the Battle of
Agincourt in 1415, created the first
Valentine card. He sent Valentine poems to
his wife in France from his jail cell.
Commercial Valentines didn't appears until
1800 (In England) and although handmade
cards had been around for years. In the 19th
century a new kind of Valentine emerged
called "penny dreadful" that were insulting
and cruel rather than loving and flattering.
They were mostly sent anonymously too.
In America, hand-made Valentines appeared
around 1740 and were sealed with red wax and
left secretly on a lover's doorstep or sent
in the mail. Commercial cards for the most
part took over around 1880's. But people
still and will always make homemade ones
too. Some included trinkets, some locks of
hair and in some cases there were checks
that were drawn against "The Bank of Love"
and valentines printed to look like money.
One was so realistic to a 5-pound note it
was quickly recalled!
Valentine verses were romantic, whimsical
and critical. Postage was expensive. And
during the English Victorian times the
custom was that the recipient paid for the
mail they got
Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway were famous
children's book illustrators of their time.
At the age of 22, Kate sold her first
Valentine design for $15. Within weeks, over
25,000 copies were sold. For a few years
after, she kept designing Valentines, but
was never paid a penny more. Today, Kate
Greenaway Valentine's are considered
collectable items, as well as those designed
by Walter Crane.
When Valentine Cards got to America, they
also got more creative. The first known to
come to the US is a note written by John
Winthrop in 1629 to his wife before leaving
England for the New World. It ended with "My
sweet wife, Thou must be my valentine for
none hat challenged me." He later became
governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Valentines were not only done in delicate
pen and ink, but also watercolor and the
handwriting also became a thing of beauty
for the card as well, as good penmanship was
considered a form of art, as well as the
quality of a person.
Acrostic Valentines - had verses in which
the first letter of the lines spelled out
the loved one's name. Example : name Amanda.
A - Another moment without you is
M - more pain than I can bear.
A- And no other love will ever be
N - nearer to my heart than yours.
D - Days pass slowly until we shall meet
A -again and our lives forever share.
Cutout Valentines (which most children do in
school today also) were simply made by
folding paper several times and then cutting
out small areas to make lacelike designs.
Pinprick Valentines were made by pricking
tiny paper holes with a pin or needled into
the paper into a lovely design.
Theorem or Poonah Valentines had designs
that were painted through a stencil cut in
oil paper (style originated in the Orient)
with a coat of gum Arabic to keep the paint
from running.
Rebus Valentines had verses in which tiny
pictures took the place of some of the
words.
Puzzle Valentines - Had a puzzle to read and
refold, in which scattered among their many
folds were verses that had to be read in a
certain order. I remember making these in
school in which they ended up like a pyramid
in which you put your index finger and thumb
of both hands on both sides and moved the
puzzle valentine North to South and East To
West chanting some silly rhyme until you
stopped and could chose a flap to open and
read.
Fraktur Valentines - had ornamental
lettering in the stle of illuminated
manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
But, Valentines did not always come via
paper and lace. Many sailors would return
from their voyages bringing silk scarves (or
other items) to their wives or girlfriends
that had designs of hearts, flowers and
other romantic images or words. And, in
return many of the wives or girlfriends of
those sailors (before they took off to sea)
made them stronger bundles decorated with
loving images and thoughts (and filled with
items) to take with them on their voyages to
think of them.
And during the Civil War some of the
Valentines were more like paper dolls that
were actually dressed with cloth (or paper)
to try to resemble the person sending it.
And during the Roaring Twenties, some
valentines were actually shaped like
tomatoes. At that time, tomatoes only grew
in flower gardens and were considered
"love
apples." more>>
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