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The Mother of the American Valentine Card
by Enrique Haft
http://www.fayvalentine.com
Each year Americans send millions of Valentine cards without
thinking about where this custom originated. The American
Valentine card came into prominence due to the interest and
vision of a nineteenth century woman who the Greeting Card
Association has named as "a visionary." At a time before
women could vote and when women did not participate in
business, Esther Howland owned and managed her own
successful greeting card company.
Born in 1828 in Worcester, Massachusetts as a descendent of
Pilgrim colonists, Esther Howland was a brave entrepreneur.
Esther~s family owned and operated a well-known
Massachusetts book and stationary store. So when Esther was
19 and received an exquisite English lace Valentine, she set
out to make these types of Valentines herself. She started
by convincing her father to buy lace paper and other
supplies from New York and London so that she could produce
samples for her salesman brother to take on his sales trips.
When her brother returned with over $5,000 worth of orders,
everyone was amazed ~ remember, this amount was a lot of
money in the mid-1800s.
Esther hired other ladies to help her fill this beginning
order, knowing she couldn~t do this on her own. The ladies
worked in assembly fashion, which was also pioneering at a
time before Henry Ford used assembly lines to produce
automobiles. Her business was grossing over $100,000 a
year. The company continued to operate for another 15 years
before she sold the business in 1881 due to a bother knee
that limited her to a wheelchair. Esther later passed away
a very accomplished woman in 1904.
While Esther Howland did not introduce the Valentine to the
United States, she is credited with the popularity that the
sending of Valentine greetings achieved. Her designs evoked
a romantic appeal and flair that has never been equaled. Her
lace hearts and flowers allowed Americans to express what
was in their hearts at a time when emotions were not to be
spoken about. Collectors can instantly recognize her
Valentines from their characteristic grace and charm.
The uniqueness of Esther~s cards is not that they were on
bi-fold stock; hers were one-of-a-kind pieces of art with
great ingenuity. Using multiple layers and folded paper
springs, Esther designed these cards so that the paper
springs has pop-up images and shadow-box effects. The cards
did not contain stock factory greetings; instead she sold
dealers a booklet with various sayings for customers to
select and receive a custom card with their preferred
greetings. The nearest application of this concept is seen
in today~s customized e-mail greeting cards.
The modern American greeting card industry is in place
thanks to this visionary businesswoman. Today, this
industry has about 5,000 companies in the U.S. To honor
Esther Howland, the Greeting Card Association honored her at
the National Stationary Show in New York in 2001 with the
first ~Esther Howland Award For A Greeting Card Visionary~.
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