Happy Valentine's Day!

Object of the Day: A Punch Valentine

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On this fine St. Valentine's Day, let's look at a favorite from my own collection.

This gorgeous Victorian valentine of paper lace and appliqué is part of my growing collection of antique ephemera.  It features an applied plaque which reads “Accept My Valentine” below an applied scrap of a scene of a boy and a girl with a dog.  The girl holds a doll while the boy is helping Mr. Punch—who oddly looks like a human child—ride the dog like a horse.

Object of the Day: A Victorian Valentine

Our Victorian forebears knew how to make a good Valentine. There’s a reason, after all, that most of our current Valentine’s Day imagery has decidedly Victorian overtones—cupids and lace and glittering hearts. 

I found this Victorian valentine last month in an antique store and knew it had to be added to my collection of ephemera. Not only is it a masterpiece of Nineteenth Century printing—gorgeous chromolithography and die-cutting, it’s the sort of novelty which made these Victorian greetings cars so special. It’s a pop-up. By pulling on the red tab atop the greeting, you can expand the card into a three-dimensional love note of all of the most romantic imagery of the day…and now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Object of the Day: A Punch Valentine

This gorgeous Victorian valentine of paper lace and appliqué is part of my growing collection of antique ephemera.  It features an applied plaque which reads “Accept My Valentine” below an applied scrap of a scene of a boy and a girl with a dog.  The girl holds a doll while the boy is helping Mr. Punch—who oddly looks like a human child—ride the dog like a horse.

Happy Valentine's Day!