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For collectors, the golden age of Valentines
is from 1840s to the 1890s when valentines were assembled from pre-manufactured
pieces by hand.
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Esther Howland, one of the first mass-market
producers of hand-assembled valentines,
incorporated the use of the paper spring, which gave three-dimensional
depth to valentines. The spring was a piece of accordion-folded paper
that attached the different layers of the valentine.
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These detailed hand-assembled valentines included
elements such as paper lace, hand cut and colored paper flowers, hand-colored
lithographs, daguerreotypes, gauze, copperplate engravings, wood block
prints, gilding and Victorian scraps-small decorative lithographed
colored elements that could be pasted into place-usually "flowers,
children, baskets, wreaths, trellises, etc."
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You can identify the manufacturers of these
old valentines by their embossed marks or watermarks-be sure to look
through a magnifying glass. Many of Esther Howland's valentines have
a red H on them.
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The industrially-made valentines that were
produced starting in the 1840s are sometimes referred to as "choked
to death" valentines because they were made with cheaper elements
and decorated with "knots, ribbons and bows."
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Very high-end valentines could cost as much
as $50 in the 1850s-at auction these antiques can go for thousands
of dollars.
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Since valentines were sold as thematic sets,
collectors treasure valentines which still have their original envelope.
Sources:
Written and researched by Sylvie Beauvais, Philadelphia,
PA
Adapted from Katherin Kreider. Valentines with Values. "Chapter
II, The Golden Age: Put Together by Hand." Atglen, PA: Schiffer
Publishing, 1996. (pp. 8-11)
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