Valentine's Day History

I love the holiday's that are not full of stress. You know the one's I am talking about. Valentine's Day and Halloween are my favorites. Why is that? I am not really sure but, they simply make me happy. Maybe because they are just festive?
Valentine's Day is just a few days away and I thought I would first give a little history in this blog about the valentine card and then in my next blog, I plan to share some "vintage" valentine's that I thought were funny or cute.

Valentines Day Card History
Tradition of exchanging Valentine's Day Cards is said to have begun as early as 1400's. Credit for the first written Valentine's Day Card is given to Charles - Duke of Orleans, who following capture at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, wrote a poem to his wife while imprisonment in the Tower of London. The greeting has been preserved by British Library.
Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée…
—Charles d'Orléans




The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th century America shifted, where many Valentine cards are now general greeting cards rather than declarations of love.