Published on National Endowment for the Humanities (http://www.neh.gov)

An American Tradition: The Valentine's Day Card

February 14, 2013 | By Adriana Cutler

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valentines_postcard-resize.jpg [1]

While the writing of love letters and cards for Valentine's Day pre-dates our Nation's birth, it was American Esther Howland who turned the Valentine's Day card into a visual artform. Learn more about Howland and the evolution of the Valentine's Day card through these articles on Chronicling America:

"The Story of a Valentine Postcard," [2] The Ogden Standard. Ogden City, UT. February 16, 1918, 4 P.M. City Edition, Magazine Section.

"Started Fancy Valentines," [3] The Sun. New York, NY. March 17, 1904.

"Inventor of Valentines," [4] Willmar Tribune. Willmar, MN. June 20, 1906.

We encourage everyone to search Chronicling America [5] for other Valentine's Day-related articles and tweet their findings: #dpavalentine.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Division of Preservation and Access!

Source URL: http://www.neh.gov/divisions/preservation/featured-project/american-tradition-the-valentines-day-card

Links:
[1] http://www.neh.gov/files/divisions/preservation/images/valentines_postcard-resize.jpg
[2] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058396/1918-02-16/ed-1/seq-26/;words=Howland+Esther+Valentine?date1=1836&date2=1922&searchType=advanced&language=&proxdistance=10&state=&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=%22esther+howland%22+valentine&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=1
[3] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1904-03-17/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Howland+Esther?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1922&searchType=basic&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22esther+howland%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=15
[4] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89081022/1906-06-20/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Howland+Esther?date1=1836&sort=date&date2=1922&searchType=basic&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22esther+howland%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=17
[5] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov