Victorian style Valentines offer an alternative to the prepackaged ones. Bad jokes not included.
It was 1847 when the first mass produced Valentine’s Day cards were made. The era quickly became the golden age of Valentines.
Esther Howland, now known as the mother of the American Valentine, commissioned her friends and family to form an assembly line in her kitchen and churn out hundreds of lacy, flower-y, embossed cards that she sold all over the country. Her creations ranged from small, inexpensive notes to be slipped under doors, to elaborate multi-layered creations that cost up to $50 (about as much as the cost of a horse and buggy, at the time).
