Will You Be My Valentine? A Gallery of Greetings

Love Letter to Friendship Greeting

Victorian and Edwardian Collections

Twentieth-Century Collection

History's Earliest Valentines

3D Gallery

On Saint Valentine's Day, lovers have always conveyed heartfelt emotion through gifts of love. Very often, confessions of love were communicated through the written word, whether carved in stone, carefully lettered on parchment, or mass produced by Victorian publishing houses. Poets composed romantic rhymes; others wrote love letters where they revealed intimate and passionate feelings for the beloved. For the many who were not able to compose elegant love messages themselves, 19th-century publishers and artists produced beautifully designed greeting cards. Through the influence of the postcard after 1900, greeting cards were also tailored for the broader world of friends, relatives and children.

Friendship

Circa 1850–1881. Esther Howland (1828–1904). Commercial card. N.E.V.Co. Paper lace, scrap appliqué, coloured wafer of paper, cutout. Musée Colby-Curtis:
2003.4
15.  x 9.5 cm.