Sending a Valentine to your sweetie was once possible only for the rich and privileged.

In the Middle Ages, for example, a knight had many options to send a tribute to his lady. If he were gifted, he could compose and perform a song or sonnet in her honor. But lack of talent was no impediment for the courtly lover. He could hire a troubadour or band of musicians to serenade his beloved. He could engage a poet to pen a sonnet in praise of her sparkling eyes. He could send servants with gifts of flowers or jewelry to soften her cold heart. (Maidens were supposed to have cold hearts in the Middle Ages until after the marriage contract was signed.)

All this was expensive, personal, and hand-delivered. No problem for the well-to-do lover. But what of the average peasant, serf, or even the growing class of merchants and townsmen? They seldom had the leisure, education, or money to create or commission such fripperies. Handcrafted Valentines and love tokens were simply beyond the reach of most common people.

All that changed with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. For the first time, it became possible to employ artists and writers to create images and greetings destined for more than one client ~ at an affordable price.

The Victorian era (1837-1901) saw a dramatic surge in the popularity of the printed greeting card. The postage stamp was created, and the postal service launched. This allowed people to mail romantic greetings to loved ones for roughly a shilling a card (25 cents), and a penny a stamp. (It was cheaper to mail a greeting card than a letter.) With these developments, the greeting card business was born.

While Christmas cards were the first, most popular commercial greeting cards offered to the public, Valentines soon caught on. The Mother of the Valentine, Esther Howland, an artist from Massachusetts, was famous for her exquisite, hand-embellished greetings in the mid 1840’s. Victorian Valentines were sentimental, beautiful, and expressed the tender sentiments that bashful Victorian lovers felt unable to utter. Today, these mini works of art are collector’s items, and fetch a hefty price.

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