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Next Thursday is February 14th, Valentine’s Day. And while this is a day dedicated to people in love, it is also a day we all can celebrate friends and family with heart shaped cookies, candies and greeting cards. Whether you make your own cards or pick one from the hundreds you’ll find at the store, you’ll be continuing an age-old tradition.

Some say the tradition of sending Valentine’s Day cards started in the year 1415. Charles, Duke of Orleans had been imprisoned in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt. Charles was a young Frenchman much in love with his wife. He spent his lonely days thinking of her and writing poems and love letters to her in France. The letters became famous and were dubbed “valentines” after Saint Valentine, the patron saint of lovers.

The story of the Duke of Orleans touched British hearts and soon people were making their own valentines. Some would compose their own poems, but being a poet isn’t always easy. Soon booklets known as “writers” became available. The “writers” were full of “be my valentine” verses and sweet messages that could be copied onto fancy papers with gilt edging. One of these booklets even had “answer” verses that women could return.

By the 17th century the homemade valentines became quite intricate. There were acrostic valentines in which the first verses spelled out the loved one’s name. There were cutout valentines made by folding the paper many times and cutting out a lacey pattern. There were pinprick valentines made by pricking tiny holes in paper with a pin to create an intricate, lace-like design. There were even rebus valentines in which small pictures would take the place of some words that sounded the same. For instance an image of an eye would take the place of the word “I”.

In the 1800s valentines were being made in factories. At first workers only painted black and white pictures, but eventually they were creating fancy valentines with real lace, satin ribbons and even feathers. Soon machines were making paper lace to replace the expensive real lace.

Until the mid-1800’s it was very expensive to send mail and the person who received the letter was the one who paid! You can imagine how awkward it might be to send someone a romantic valentine with a bill attached! But when the penny post was invented and the sender paid the postage, everyone could and did send valentines.

And that was just about the time when a young, enterprising woman in Worcester, Massachusetts received her first valentine from a friend in England. Esther Allen Howland had just graduated from Holyoke College in 1847. Intrigued with the idea of making valentines, she decided to import the paper lace and floral decorations she would need from England. When Esther began taking orders for her valentines she discovered that the demand was greater than she could fill by herself. She recruited friends to help her and took out an ad in a local paper. Business was brisk!

Esther came up with new ideas for her valentines that hadn’t been used before. She placed a small piece of brightly colored paper under the white paper lace to create contrast. She also invented a shadow box card that became quite popular. Eventually the assembly line that began with friends in her home, became a thriving business. Little did Esther know back in 1847 that Valentine’s Day would become the second most popular occasion (Christmas being the first) for sending greeting cards.