Early Valentines and Printed Examples

Humans have been exchanging tokens of friendship since before recorded history. From calling cards to Valentines to Christmas cards, the modern greeting card industry evolved.

Research:

• “America’s First Christmas Card.” Albany Institute of History and Art. https://www.albanyinstitute.org/online-exhibition/50-objects/section/america-s-first-christmas-card
• Britannica Editors. "scarab". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Apr. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/topic/scarab
• Britannica Editors. "greeting card". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/greeting-card
• Brown, Ellen F. “Christmas, Inc.: A Brief History of the Holiday Card.” JSTOR Daily. Dec. 20, 2015. https://daily.jstor.org/history-christmas-card-holiday-card/
• Chase, Ernest Dudley. “The Romance of Greeting Cards.” Rust Craft. Cambridge, MA. 1956.
• “Dali at Hallmark.” Hallmark Art Collection. https://www.hallmarkartcollection.com/creatively-thinking/stories/dali-at-hallmark/
• “Esther Howland 1847.” Mount Holyoke. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/alum/esther-howland
• Evans, Elaine Altman. “The Sacred Scarab, Occasional Paper.” McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. University of Tennessee. January 1, 1996. https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/1996/01/01/sacred-scarab/
• Greeting Card Association. “The History of Greeting Cards.” https://www.greetingcard.org/history/
• Hanc, John. “The History of the Christmas Card.” Smithsonian. Dec. 9, 2015. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-christmas-card-180957487/
• Henry, William E. “Art and Cultural Symbolism: A Psychological Study of Greeting Cards.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 6, no. 1, 1947, pp. 36–44. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/426176
• Kavanagh, Marybeth. “Louis Prang, Father of the American Christmas Card.” The New York Historical. Dec. 19, 2012. https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/prang
• Koon, Wee Kek. “How ancient Chinese new year cards went from elites’ greetings to bribery instruments.” South China Morning Post. Jan. 31, 2026. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3341675/how-ancient-chinese-new-year-cards-went-elites-greetings-bribery-instruments?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article
• Korolkov, Maxim. “‘Greeting Tablets’ in Early China: Some Traits of the Communicative Etiquette of Officialdom in Light of Newly Excavated Inscriptions.” T’oung Pao, vol. 98, no. 4/5, 2012, pp. 295–348. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41725988
• Lee, Ruth Webb. “A History of Valentines.” 1984.
• Newberry, Percy E. “Scarabs: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals and Signet Rings.” London. Archibald Constable and Co. Ltd. 1908. https://dn790001.ca.archive.org/0/items/scarabsintroduc00newbuoft/scarabsintroduc00newbuoft.pdf
• Purcell, Denise. “Authentic Messaging and Independent Makers Drive Greeting Cards' Next-Gen Relevance.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce. https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/launch-pad/greeting-card-next-gen-relevance#:~:text=The%20category%20is%20massive:%20According,card%20market%20at%20$7%20billion.
• Grafton, Samuel. “Holly Leaf and Copper Plate.” The North American Review, vol. 226, no. 6, 1928, pp. 660–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25110633
• Shoichet, Catherine E. “This ‘visionary’ woman changed the way many Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day.” CNN. Feb. 14, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/13/style/esther-howland-valentines-card-history-cec
• Schmidt, Leigh Eric. “The Commercialization of the Calendar: American Holidays and the Culture of Consumption, 1870-1930.” The Journal of American History, vol. 78, no. 3, 1991, pp. 887–916. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2078795
• Stupperich, Andy. “Art Education: Louis Prang's Christmas Card Competitions.” The Henry Ford Museum. January 29, 2026. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/articles/art-education-louis-prang%27s-christmas-card-competitions
• Terrell, Ellen. “Esther Howland and the Business of Love.” Library of Congress. March 23, 2016. https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2016/03/esther-howland-and-the-business-of-love/
• “World's first printed Valentine's Card.” A History of the World. BBC. 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/L1NM_6mWRymAMKXcRDlXJA
• Wright, Helena E. “A winning design: Prang’s Christmas card contests of the 1880s.” National Museum of American History. December 23, 2019. https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/winning-design-prangs-christmas-card-contests-1880s

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