Valentine 1850 - 1860

This Valentine was made by an anonymous maker, date unknown, with paper, fabric, and metallic trim. Valentine’s Day emerged as a commercial holiday in the 19th century when advancements in printing technology allowed for mass production of cards and other romantic keepsakes. This particular Valentine is an elaborate example of the Victorian era's sentimental culture. A deeply embedded culture that assigned symbolic meanings to flowers and objects as codes of romantic intention. This card presents a forest scene, a sacred heart, and a banner that reads “Forget me not.” The visual language of flowers and religious symbols acted as a subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, mode of communication. But what does it mean when these symbols are mass-produced by anonymous makers? Was something lost? To understand such artwork, we can look at the history of printing and publishing, which would provide insights into who was buying and sending these cards, and the social rituals that developed around them.