Esther A. Howland Archives - View from the Front Porch

7 02, 2022

Why Valentine’s Day?

By judythemorgan|2022-02-02T15:54:51-06:00February 7th, 2022|A Writer's Life, Holidays, Valentine's Day|0 Comments

Soon many people will be exchanging cards, candy, gifts, or flowers with their special “valentine.” Why do we do that?

Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr Saint Valentine a real priest who lived in 270 A.D. and provided Christians with sacraments outlawed by the Roman Empire such as marriage and ended up in prison.

Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment, giving them to the soldiers and persecuted Christians to “remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to remain faithful Christians.”

On the evening before his execution, he wrote the first “valentine” addressed to the daughter of his jailer and signed the greeting “Your Valentine.” And thus began our custom of giving cards and reminders to loved ones on February 14th.

The Greeting Card Association estimates as much as $933 million will be spent on cards and gifts this year. One billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year.

Esther A. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” used “scrap” to make elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons, and colorful pictures. The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester holds a large collection of her valentines.

I have a personal ephemera postcard collection. While not as elaborate as Ms. Howland’s, I love the way these cards speak of romance.

If you don’t want to spend money on cards or have the time to make a card. You can always express your love with these “signs” from Signing Savvy, the online American Sign Language Dictionary.

Moi, I’m not shy about romance or telling the ones I love how much I love them on this special day. My Valentine cards are in the mail.

8 02, 2016

Valentines – the mirrors of romance

By judythemorgan|2016-02-05T10:41:48-06:00February 8th, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Next Sunday will be Valentine’s Day.

You may feel the greeting card companies, jewelers, and florist have forced the holiday upon us. The day has certainly been commercialized. Consumers are predicted to spend close to nineteen billion dollars this year.

As a romance writer, I prefer to believe we celebrate the day because we value what a day emphasizing love and romance can do for relationships. Having such a special day focused on love and loved ones provides the opportunity to:

~ ignite new relationships with romantic gestures
~renew an old love gone stale with a dose of romance

Many of us use valentines to express our feelings. That’s why I say, valentines are the mirrors of romance.

Supposedly, Saint Valentine began the valentine practice when he cut hearts from parchment, giving them to the soldiers and persecuted Christians to “remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to remain faithful Christians.” He’s the saint that defied Emperor Claudius’ edict forbidding priests to marry couples and ended up in prison. A prison guard’s daughter formed a friendship with Valentine and on the day he was martyred he left her a note signed, “Love from your Valentine.”

Mass-produced valentines begin appearing in the 1840s. Esther A. Howland is considered the Mother of Valentines in America. Inspired by an English Valentine she received, she created elaborate cards from scraps of real lace, ribbons, and colorful pictures.

You’ll find a large collection of her valentines in The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester.

Postcards with romantic scenes and messages were also popular in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the tradition of sending Valentine postcards died as the use of postcards for personal correspondence faded.

These are samples from my collection of vintage holiday postcards.