My Vintage Valentines
Taken from my baby book
I have always been a collector and a saver of things. Lucky for me my mother and grandmother were savers as well. Now I have a wonderful vintage Valentine collection entirely of family cards. In my mother’s baby book was saved a treasure trove of 1920s Valentines, and in an old shoe box I discovered a wonderful stash of very vintage greeting cards dating from the 1920s to the 1950s and many of these were Valentines.
When I was in grade school, Valentine’s Day was a favorite holiday. We girls spent hours of time decorating a fancy Valentine box for our school desk. These were decorated with red, pink, and white crepe paper and white lacy doilies and hearts cut from construction paper. The boys usually just had a plain shoe box. There was a rule that each student who gave Valentines had to give one to everyone. After the cards were passed out decorated cupcakes were served. With much anticipation the cards were opened at home. Many of those cards are now a part of my collection.
This very large fold out Valentine was saved in my baby book.
1940s Valentine saved in my baby book.
1940s Valentine saved in my baby book.
1940s Valentine from my maternal grandmother saved in my baby book.
Saved in my baby book
A 1920s Valentine saved in my mother's baby book
1920s Valentine saved in my mother's baby book
Gayle's Valentine
Later baking Valentine cookies or cakes was fun. I remember so well on one of the first Valentine’s Day after I married, I decided to bake a heart shaped chocolate cake and I laid the layers out to cool on racks and rushed to the store to buy an ingredient for the frosting. When I returned I was shocked to see the point of each layer had been cut off … love was being tested! When I called my husband he had to admit that he had come home for a break and couldn’t resist the aroma of fresh baked cake … and of course he had to make the layers match.
Last year my husband made this cake for me using the same heart-shaped pans.
A sweet Mikasa china dish I gave to my mother and a little Susan Branch Valentine book.
Two handmade tooth fairy pillows my mother made for two of my daughters.
Family Valentine mugs.
