15 Art History-Inspired Valentine’s Day Cards (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of Valentine's day cards? ›

Sometime in the 18th century, Europeans and Americans began exchanging friendship cards on Valentine's Day. The practice increased in the mid-19th century, especially in England, where the introduction of the penny post made sending valentines more affordable.

4) According to Hallmark, a whopping 145 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged every February 14 (and that's not even including all those kids' valentines exchanged in classrooms!). This makes Valentine's Day the second biggest holiday for exchanging greeting cards, after Christmas.

Pink, red, and white are the colors associated with Valentine's Day, and the shelves in supermarkets, stores, and gift shops are flooded with items in these colors.

The World's Oldest Valentine's Day Card

Dating to February 1477, the love letter was written by Margery Brews to her fiancé John Paston. Margery refers to John as her “right well-beloved Valentine” and beseeches him to marry her despite the fact she hasn't been able to convince her father to increase her dowry.

The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries, when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds" of early spring.

Valentine's Day.” In the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed that birds chose their mates in February (hence the use of love birds as a motif for the holiday). Valentine greetings date back to the Middle Ages, but a written Valentine didn't appear until the early 1400's.

Kiss Day is celebrated on February 13

It begins on February 7 with Rose Day and includes Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day and Kiss Day. The penultimate day of Valentine Week is known as Kiss Day, which is celebrated on February 13.

There are approximately 50 million roses given on Valentine`s Day around the world. Women tend to buy approximately 85% of all the Valentine`s Day cards sold.

In the late 5th century, Pope Gelasius I outlawed Lupercalia. Some contend that he designated the celebration of St. Valentine's Day on February 14 to replace the pagan holiday.

Declare your disinterest in dating someone by wearing grey for the day. Grey will let others know that you are not interested in any proposal at the moment. Another alternative to grey is to wear purple outfits, which denote the same meaning.

Can I wear blue on Valentine's Day? ›

BLUE. According to the Valentine's Day dress code, blue symbolizes that you are open to love. I like to connect it to the color water.

In the late 1800s, the holiday was also commercialized, with businesses printing and selling pre-written Valentine's messages. Around that time, people started giving candy and flowers to loved ones or going on romantic getaways with their partners.

Sweethearts (also known as conversation hearts) are small heart-shaped sugar candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", "Let's Get Busy", or "Miss You".

It was Valentine's Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth — a fourth grader — seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card.

Only as advances in printing and distribution accelerated in the 19th century did manufactured cards become commonly available. Since then, manufacturers have produced valentines to suit a broad range of consumers—kids, adults, dating couples, married spouses, friends, family, and other prospective market segments.

The earliest Valentine's Day cards, as we know them now, were created in England in the 1800s. These paper cards were embellished with bright graphics, ribbons, and lace. The commercial Valentine's card industry in the United States during the 1840s is widely attributed to American lady Esther Howland.

In 1850, Esther Howland, the daughter of a prosperous stationer from Worcestor, Massachusetts, began one of the first mass-produced Valentine's Day card businesses in the U.S. These initial Valentines were rectangular in shape, assembled with fancy lace, and often featured poems, cherubs, heart motifs, birds, flowers, ...