Valentines Day cards have been in existence since the Middle Ages, and the oldest surviving examples date back to the 1400s. In the 1800s, Valentines day cards were assembled in factories, and by 1850, the American printer and artist Esther Howland was publishing and selling the first Valentines in the United States.



Howland's cards were stamped on the back with her trademark red H, and Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as scrap. These cards became very popular, and changes in the postal service at the time allowed for the affordability of sending them. Prior to this, mail delivery was so expensive that most people did not send many letters, at least not to destinations very far from their homes.

Howland's cards also did away with the laborious task of making homemade valentines, or at the very least, provided a time saving alternative. Prior to her business, Victorian lovers made a number of different cards: pinprick valentines made by pricking tiny holes in paper with a pin to resemble the look of lace; Cutout valentines , lace-look cards made by folding paper several times and cutting out a lace design with small, sharp scissors; acrostic valentines , which had verses in which the first letters in the lines spelled out the beloved's name; and rebus valentines , verses in which small pictures took the place of some of the words

Around the same time, another popular type of card was the daguerreotype, which was a photographic tintype process. Mirror valentines, or cards containing a small mirror designed to reflect the face of the cards recipient were also given and received frequently during this time. The tradition of sending valentine cards in the United States did not truly catch on, however, until the Civil War, when it became common for women to send cards containing locks of their hair to their soldier boyfriends. Normally, though, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to send a card to a man.

Today, Valentines Day cards are sent by women and men the world over, via traditional and electronic mail. E cards have become a very popular option for those who want to save money, time, and like the idea of instant delivery of their message. Valentines Day cards are sent more than any other type of card, including Christmas cards, in the United States.