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This 19th-century valentine attributed to Esther Howland features layers of lace paper, faux pearls, blue satin, white satin ribbon and gold paper stars. Metropolitan Museum of Art Esther Howland Valentine card, "Affection" ca. 1870s Valentine by Esther Howland Valentine by Esther Howland Valentine by Esther Howland The house where Esther Howland Lived. Esther Howland (1828–1904) was an artist and entrepreneur who was responsible for popularizing Valentine's Day greeting cards in America. While there were technically Valentine's Day cards already in the U.S. market, Howland's versions were unique and soared in popularity. Soon she was selling some $100,000 worth of cards Esther Howland. She was a 19 th century businesswoman in Worcester, Mass., who popularized expensive English-style Valentines with lots of lace, colored paper and three-dimensional effects. And her thriving Valentine business employed women for decades. Esther Howland was born in Worcester in 1828 to Southworth and Esther Howland. On this day in 1849, the first American-made valentines were sold in Worcester. They were designed and made by Esther Howland, the daughter of a local stationer. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College, she returned to Worcester and began making valentines modeled on a fancy one she had received from an English Esther Howland is credited with sparking the spread of the ornate cards that became a staple of Valentine’s Day celebrations. While Valentine’s Day cards were available in the United States for more than half a century before Esther Howland started her business, she is known as the first to commercially distribute English-type hand-decorated valentines. She is also credited with several innovations: Esther used small, brightly colored glazed wafers of paper, which Numerous Worcester streets signs pay homage to Esther Howland's legacy as the "Mother of the Valentine." (Andrea Shea/WBUR) "It goes from $25,000 to $75,000 in the various press Esther Howland Valentine card, "Sincerely Yours" ca. 1870s. Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Esther Howland Valentine card, "Sincerely Yours" ca. 1870s. ESTHER HOWLAND. Esther Howland (1828–1904) was an artist and businesswoman from Worcester, Massachusetts, who was responsible for popularizing and commercializing Valentine's Day greeting cards in America. She was the Founder of the New England Valentine Company and is known as “The Mother of the American Valentine.” Early Life American Valentines were started right here in Massachusetts. Meet the creator Esther Howland, nicknamed the "Mother of the American Valentine," has left Worcester with a lovely legacy. Signature: In red: H-25 printed at the upper left corner of verso -- signifying Howland - twenty-five cents. Inscription: > Printed in red on a small motto card which is applied to the inside recto:<br/><br/>"When other lips and other hearts/ Their tales of love shall tell,/ In language whose excess imparts/ The power they feel so well Esther Howland was an artist and businesswoman who popularized Valentine’s Day greeting cards in America in the 1800s.* She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1828 to Southworth Allen Howland, who operated the largest book and stationery store in Worcester. Esther Howland pioneered the modern Valentine’s Day card. The first heart-shaped chocolate boxes appeared for Valentine’s Day in 1861. The Victorians sent rude cards on Valentine’s Day. Among its collections are valentines designed by Esther Howland and secondary source material on the history of valentines in America. Esther Howland (1828-1904), a Mount Holyoke grad and Summer Street native, produced America’s first elaborate valentines here in Worcester in 1848, the same year that Worcester became a city. The daughter of Esther Howland was a 20-year-old recent college graduate in Massachusetts when she started the business that became the New England Valentine Co. was February 14, St. Valentine’s Day, and Esther Howland helped to define love by creating the first commercially mass-produced Valentine's Day card in the United States in the mid-1800s. In the process, the 'Mother of the American Valentine' helped usher in a $20 billion holiday. But Worcester has another lovely legacy in Esther Howland, nicknamed the "Mother of the American Valentine." Born in 1828, she was the fourth of seven children and only daughter of Southworth and In 2023, Valentines for All: Esther Howland Captures America’s Heart by Nancy Churnin with delightful illustrations by Monika Róza Wisniewska was published by Albert Whitman & Company. The book is written for children ages 4-8 and provides an inspiring look at an entrepreneurial woman who built a successful card company. While there were technically Valentine's Day cards already in the U.S. market, Howland's versions were unique and soared in popularity. Soon she was selling some $100,000 worth of cards
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