Brought to you by Bob’s Gift Baskets
In an earlier posting I told of how pope Valentine penned a note to the daughter of his jailer in which he closed with “From Your Valentine”
By the 18th century Valentine’s Day in England was a very popular day. Hand made cards with ribbons and lace often adorned with hearts and cupids were exchanged between lovers. Gifts were also becoming popular accompanied by a card.
It is not surprising that this popular event soon spread to the American colonies. In 1840 Esther Howland began to commercially produce Valentine’s Day cards in quantity. She quickly became known as the Mother of the Valentine and her ribbon and lace cards complete with colorful pictures were a hit. It was when this mass production resulted in the tradition caught on across the United States.
Esther Howland
Today Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular US holidays with over 25% of cards purchase annually being Valentine’s Day cards. There are scores of industries and commercial interests across the nation and world devoted to Valentine’s Day cards and Gift items.
If you would like to know more about Esther Howland click on this Link
