valentine

References

Images

Valentine, c. 1890–1900; in the Hallmark Collection.

Valentine's Day card

Illustrated 1910 Valentine card showing Cupid with wings and a blue sash, gathering red heart shapes from a pine tree into a basket. Text reads If you'd only be my Valentine.

valentine

greeting card

Also known as: valentine card

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Learn about this topic in these articles:

greeting card
Early greeting cards
The valentine is also regarded as a forerunner of the greeting card. Its history is related to pre-Christian Rome when boys drew the names of girls from a love urn on the feast of the Lupercalia (February 15). The custom was introduced to England by the…
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The valentine is also regarded as a forerunner of the greeting card. Its history is related to pre-Christian Rome when boys drew the names of girls from a love urn on the feast of the Lupercalia (February 15). The custom was introduced to England by the…
Read More

Valentine’s Day
How is Valentine’s Day celebrated?
Formal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used. The first commercial valentines in the United States were printed in the mid-1800s. Valentines commonly depict Cupid, the Roman god of love, along with hearts, traditionally the seat of…
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Formal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used. The first commercial valentines in the United States were printed in the mid-1800s. Valentines commonly depict Cupid, the Roman god of love, along with hearts, traditionally the seat of…
Read More

Why Do We Give Valentine Cards?
…most enduring is the classroom card exchange. Each year, typically, elementary school children choose a box of valentines featuring their latest favorite superhero, princess, snack, or Internet meme, fill out a card for each of their classmates, and distribute the cards among their peers’ decorated shoeboxes during class time. While…
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…most enduring is the classroom card exchange. Each year, typically, elementary school children choose a box of valentines featuring their latest favorite superhero, princess, snack, or Internet meme, fill out a card for each of their classmates, and distribute the cards among their peers’ decorated shoeboxes during class time. While…
Read More