Reprehensible Valentines

In 1851, shortly after Esther Howland began making Valentines commercially in America, a writer for the Alexandria Gazette opined, "St Valentine’s Day has sadly degenerated in these latter days. The delicate compliments of old times, are superseded by guady[sic] presents, or hideous caricatures. The fashion of 'Valentines' will soon go out of vogue." 

The Daily Dispatch, writing about Valentine's Day four years later, sheds a little more insight on this "playful waggery" tarnishing a holiday for sweethearts. The Valentine industrial complex employed artists to create "caricatures and satirical verses. . . . Some of them are very good—some are abominably vulgar." The writer indicates there have been some reports of cruelty behind sending such Valentines, "but it is to be hoped they are rare, especially with regard to the fair sex. Of the other we need not have so much care, particularly the old bachelors, whom we readily consign to the mercies of all, to be treated as seems best."

'Tis by Your Music, William H. Helfand Comic Valentine Collection, Library Company of Philadelphia.

 The Lynchburg Daily Virginian notes that by 1857, Valentines were trending more toward "illustrated nonsense and tomfoolery" than genuine expressions of love, with an implication it was imported Northern incivility that would never have permeated the genteel Old South: "Comic caricatures were more liberally dispatched than than sentimental order; and found their way to all classes without regard to age, sex or condition. Various were the effects produced upon the recipients of these Yankee inventions. We heard one lady, in her wrath, declare that 'no gentleman would send them,' and an indignant gentleman, boiling over with ire, say, 'I would just like to know who sent one to me.'" Even so, the overall tone of the article took a lighthearted approach - the issue of these "abominable" Valentines was sure to be taken up by the local authorities just as soon "as the Market House or the Local. . . are disposed of."

Propriety Personified, William H. Helfand Comic Valentine Collection, Library Company of Philadelphia.

Despite the dire projection about the impending demise of Valentine Day cards and the endless harping in the newspapers that the practice should be discontinued, twenty years later, these "hideous caricatures" were still a central part of the card experience, judging by the Winchester Times for Feb. 14, 1872: "To-day is St. Valentine’s day. We are reminded of this by noticing in the windows of some of our bookstores the displays of valentines, comic and sentimental. . . . In this country the day is observed only by sending ornamental, illustrative or comic missive to friends and foes alike. The comic kind are frequently sent with a view to exasperate or wound the feelings of enemies. It is a custom to be reprehended, and should not be practiced." The practice was so common, in fact, more than one piece of fiction from the era centered around the experience of receiving a spiteful Valentine and the potential repercussions of the act. (If time permits, we may discuss a story or two before Valentine's Day this year to further illustrate how deeply the practice permeated American culture.)

As late as 1900, the Times was still noting that it was customary to send Valentines of a mean-spirited nature to others, so that almost no one escaped the holiday without getting a card of some sort: "The Valentine has made its appearance, not only the dainty, sentimental ones, breathing love and poetic sweetness, but the absurd caricatures which seem to fascinate the American mind insomuch that very few people fail to receive one on the 14th of February. Some are sent in a spirit of fun, others maliciously."

The tide, however, was turning. In 1909, the Virginia Guide noted "The hideous comic valentine has not been so conspicuous this year, and it is said to be going out of fashion." In Norfolk, at least, the "old-fashioned" Valentines with acidic messages were down to the lingering stock by 1923, and by 1930, the mean-spirited missives had reportedly fallen out of favor altogether (though lighter comic examples still exist after this point).

Despite all the lip service to denounce the tradition of sending anonymous antagonizing cards in the late 19th century, even the articles that criticized the maliciousness of sending a vinegar Valentine conceded, "It is well enough to have a little fun that way, as it makes business for the stationers and postoffices - both very worthy institutions." 

If you're interested in seeing more cards that might have been received from the 1850s to early 1900s, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the source of the two cards shown here, has an extensive collection, with transcriptions of the accompanying captions. The Alice Marshall Women's History Collection at Penn State University Libraries contains later examples of comic valentines, showing the overall softening by the 1920s compared to the earlier examples of the 19th century.

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