Esther Howland, Valentine's Day and the Birth of the Card

I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as a kid. Eagerly awaiting the holiday, my classmates and I would each spend the weekend before the magical day carefully crafting and decorating shoe boxes as a receptacle to hold all of our cards. My mom would cut a slit in the top of the lid and then help me wrap the box in thick colored paper. I would cut out paper hearts in red and pink and affix them on top of white paper doilies I had carefully attached to the box with my glue stick. Sometimes I would further decorate by making a heart-shaped stamp out of a starchy Idaho potato dipping the form over and over in thick, messy paint. Then I set out to do my favorite part: make individual cards for all of my friends, and the teacher too.

As time passed on, the meaning of the holiday changed. The target of my affections went from friends and family to boys. So I stopped making cards and never made one again. Even today, I miss the process of creating a hand-made card.

In 1847 a teenager named Esther Howland became memorized when she received her first V-day card from England. It had an elaborate border of lace and decorated with ornate flowers that had been cut-out of paper, colored and pasted on. In the center was a small, pale green envelope containing Valentine's Day sentiments. She showed it to all of her friends and asked her father who owned a book and stationary store in Worcester, Massachusetts to import and sell ones like it in his store.

Then Esther tried making one. She liked it and made more creating nearly a dozen different designs. She sent these prototypes with her brother who a salesman for their father’s company. He made his rounds and returned with over $5000 orders.

From England and New York she ordered colored pictures, lace, silk, satin and ribbon. Then she set up her business in her parents’ home hiring several of her friends. Two years later, Esther Howland was firmly launched in the valentine business. By 1879, The New England Valentine Company was established and eventually grossed $100,000 annually.

Esther never married. Joan P. Kerr wrote in her book The Amorous Art of Esther Howland, that she was remembered as a “woman with high color and glossy chestnut hair”. She drove “high-stepping horses and looked like an aristocrat.” She was good looking and “dressed in fashion and had facials,” Esther understood the importance of sending a Valentine’s Day card to friends so she published a book of verse for her customers who could select one and include it in their card. One example: “May friendship’s constant kiss be thine/From this sweet day of valentine.”

She retired in 1881 to take care off her father and sold the business to George C. Whitney Company who turned the designs out by machines. With the machine age came a decline of quality. By the early 20th century, most valentines were just a folded sheet. And with that, the intricate handmade designs of Esther Howland became a thing of the past.

Images from Worcester Historical Museum.

Ahoy, Sailor... Will You Be My Valentine?

The thought of a handsome, brawny sailor away at sea for a long period of time lovingly hand-crafting a personal valentine for his sweetheart back home certainly brings dreamy romantic thoughts to my mind.

It has been said that nineteenth-century sailors made wooden boxes displaying an intricate array of beautiful little sea shells they collected from remote parts of the globe while on their travels. The boxes were octagonally shaped and built of Spanish cedar or sometimes mahogany, with a hinged glass lid. Sometimes they were two boxes hinged together. Many of these valentines incorporated some sentimental message written out in tiny shells. They could be shut and locked with a key in case a love note needed to be tucked away inside.

Ahhhh, imagine a burly sailor with Popeye forearms and strong calloused hands taking time each evening when he wasn’t on duty thoughtfully gluing the tiny seashells that he had meticulously gathered into a pleasing pattern for that special person back at home. Sometimes these patterns were further adorned with paper cutouts or bits of colored glass.

In order for a sailor to do this, he would need to carry with him things like cotton backing, colored paper -- usually pink -- glue, glass, small hinges and a list of other items. In those days, people used glue made from animal hide which would take hours to dry. Not very practical on a moving ship.
Hum. Sailors carved items like scrimshaws -- a tooth from a Sperm whale -- featuring intricate patterns of manly subject matter. There are over 100,000 species of shells found all over the world, and most of the shells used in these valentines are from the island of Barbados. It appears that many of these mementos had their origin there.

In the Caribbean, Barbados was a British colony. An important call for American and English ships during the nineteenth century. The beaches were littered with seashells. There was also a gift shop.

It sold all sorts of touristy gifts such as coral necklaces, broaches, shark bone walking sticks, dried fish jaws, and tortoise shell hair accessories. Years later, when collectors were taking their valentines in for repair, conservators discovered the Barbados newspaper under the shells used for padding and support.

In reality, sailors didn't make these valentines afterall. Most were made by the people of Barbados specifically for the souvenir trade which had its heyday from the 1830s to 1880s. These boxes range anywhere in size from eight to sixteen inches in diameter. Victorians were shell-crazy. Shells were incorporated into a variety of other items including picture frames, sewing boxes, wall hangings, floral decoupage and many other keepsakes.

These mementos, especially the valentines, have gained value and popularity in the past few decades. Today, they sell regularly at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, as well as on eBay and in a few antique shops. A modest single valentine 20 years ago sold for $350 to $600. It now sells for $3,500 to $8,500, while the price for a large double valentine has jumped to between $8,500 and $18,000. In July 2006, two double octagonal sailor’s valentines went up for auction. They both well exceeded their estimates. The first had shells and dried berries. On the left it had a geometric motif of roses and a heart; and on the right side, it repeated the geometric pattern and in the center it spelled out in little shells: "For My Mother." That sold for $24,000. The second one sold also had a geometric motif on both sides. On the left it had a central motif of an anchor, and on the right a large rose at the center. It sold for $31,200.

Regardless, most of us would prefer to think of that manly sailor on his ship with a tender heart.