At school, other boys received multiple cards in pink envelopes. I was lucky if I got an \u2018anonymous\u2019 card, supposedly sent by a secret admirer, but, in truth, from my sympathetic parents.<\/p>\n
What is the history of St Valentine\u2019s festival?<\/h2>\n
The festival of St Valentine has mysterious origins, spanning 600 years. Strangely, the two historical Saint Valentines (a bishop from Terni in Italy, and a 3rd-century priest from Rome, martyred on 14th February) have no connection with romance.<\/p>\n
But, by the late Middle Ages, the idea that birds mated on the first day of spring had taken root. Certainly, by the 18th century, lovers were exchanging chocolates, handmade tokens and cards adorned with flowers, turtle doves, love-knots and pretty romantic symbols.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> Commercially produced valentine cards did not appear until the early 19th century and were sent, or given, by the wealthier classes. At that time postage was expensive (more than a typical working person\u2019s daily wage), and paid by the receiver, not the sender.<\/p>\n But, in 1840, the invention of the pre-paid penny postage stamp meant that, for the first time, love-sick hopefuls might send a cost-effective anonymous card to their crush. By 1841, 400,000 valentines were posted in England alone. The press called it \u2018Valentine Mania\u2019.<\/p>\n This, alas, meant you could also send insulting cards \u2013 humorous and offensive parodies \u2013 to those you disliked. During the mid 19th century, thousands of so-called \u2018Vinegar\u2019 or \u2018Reverse Valentines\u2019 were printed \u2013 and received \u2013 by unfortunate men, and women, too.<\/p>\n \u2018Vinegar Valentines\u2019 were simple affairs: mass-produced on cheap, foldable paper, with coarse illustrations, and often accompanied by a crude ditty spelling out the faults and imperfections of the luckless recipient.<\/p>\n They varied from the lightly mocking to the truly nasty. A middle-aged man might be teased, say, for his baldness, for his vanity or pomposity, or for being too submissive; an older woman for being a gossip; a young girl for a shameless flirt.<\/p>\n \u2018Vinegar Valentines\u2019 are quite hard to find now, despite being printed in great numbers. It\u2019s not surprising when you think about it \u2013 most of the victims must have thrown them away on the day they were opened, and who can blame them?<\/p>\n A few years ago, I discovered an excellent example in a Lewes junk shop, framed, and dating from the 1860s. It featured a young man with pince-nez and brown bowler hat, with a slippery reptile at his feet. The caption read:\u00a0\u2018To a Snake in the Grass\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By the end of the 19th century, Valentine\u2019s Day went into decline. In February 1894, The Graphic<\/i> reported that \u2018St Valentine\u2019s Day\u2026 attracts very little attention in England\u2019, although, in America, the festival carried on as before.<\/p>\n Then, during the 1950s, Valentine\u2019s Day enjoyed a renaissance in Britain, re-exported back to these shores from the United States, where the greetings card industry enjoyed a significant commercial boom in the years following the Second World War.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A careful selection of historical valentines would make an unusual collection. Handwritten valentines from the Georgian and Regency periods come up for sale from time to time.<\/p>\n A sweet valentine from the late 18th century, adorned with hand-painted old roses and love hearts, fetched \u00a3360 at Hansons last October.<\/p>\n Later \u2018Vinegar Valentines\u2019 are rare (especially cards dating from the mid 19th century) \u2013 expect to pay in the region of \u00a3150 from a specialist dealer. And, if this sort of thing appeals, ephemera fairs are worth investigating.<\/p>\n Luke Honey is an antiques dealer and writer. Find out more at lukehoney.co.uk<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> By Luke Honey Published: Wednesday, 05 January 2022 at 12:00 am Every year, Royal Mail handles an estimated 22 million Valentine\u2019s Day cards; with 2.6 million people sending cards to themselves. February 14th still puts me in the mood for love, despite a singular lack of cards received in my teenage years. At school, other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":220,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them.jpg",583,332,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them-300x171.jpg",300,171,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them.jpg",583,332,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them.jpg",583,332,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them.jpg",583,332,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/01\/what-are-vinegar-valentines-and-how-to-collect-them.jpg",583,332,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Luke Honey Published: Wednesday, 05 January 2022 at 12:00 am Every year, Royal Mail handles an estimated 22 million Valentine\u2019s Day cards; with 2.6 million people sending cards to themselves. February 14th still puts me in the mood for love, despite a singular lack of cards received in my teenage years. At school, other…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}You might also enjoy:<\/h4>\n
![\""Late\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/19\/2021\/02\/1814-575420f.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Late\\"\/")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>When did people start sending Valentine\u2019s Day cards?<\/h2>\n
What are Vinegar Valentines?<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""This\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/19\/2021\/02\/GettyImages_939663638-5f91dab.jpg?quality=90&resize=622%2C822"\" "\\"\"Indulgent\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>How much do antique Vinegar Valentines cost<\/h2>\n
Read more from Luke Honey:<\/h4>\n
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<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section><\/body><\/html>\n
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